Jan 27, 2014 - 1 min read

Pre-Yamakasa at Kushida Shrine

In anticipation of Fukuoka's fantastic summer festival

By Haruka Saijo

Community writer

You can see this decoration float all year round at this shrine

The entrance of Kushida Shrine was full of visitors and police officers waiting for the Yamakasa practice

Two advertisements by a Kyushu broadcasting company flank the entrance gate

A Nagahama ramen booth getting ready for the big event

Mask booth for the kids

Why not get your fortune told for only 50 yen?

The main chamber of the shrine

This well is a famous location that is thought to have some mystical energy flowing about

A stele indicating that the decoration float is the symbol of Yamakasa and an important intangible cultural asset

Catching gold fish with thin paper plates is a very popular festival activity among children

They have a small tea house by one of the entrances to the shrine

A samurai-motifed Yamakasa float

Manly samurais are the best when representing the strapping Kyushu lads

Rows of votive lanterns outside the shrine

Seats are prepared for Yamakasa

The main grounds of the festival

Children participate as well, and people throw water towards the participants to cool them off and for purification

Right in the midst of the busy streets of Hakata, next to Canal City, lies this shrine famous for Yamakasa, its annual July 15 festival. The shrine is the center of the festival where floats race through the streets and is the only place having one of the floats on permanent display. I visited Kushida Shrine two days before Yamakasa to watch the participants practice. The pre-festival mood, visible each July 1-14, is extremely lively and it seemed as if this was the time of the year when the old shrine shines most brightly with high-spirited people.

More info

Find out more about Kushida Shrine.

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Haruka Saijo

By Haruka Saijo

Community writer

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