Akita Kanto Festival is a festival which uses kanto (long bamboo pole), and is held every year in the beginning of August at Akita City,
Akita Prefecture. It is said that the origin started as “Neburi-Nagashi”
(sweeping drowsiness away), an event in Edo period to repel illnesses and evil spirits, and then it linked with praying for an
abundant harvest of 5 grains. Kanto is crossed bamboo poles with paper lanterns. The largest one achieves a height of about 12 meters and a weight of about 50 kilograms.The performers called Sashite uphold and balance the large kanto with their hands, foreheads or hips, and compete their techniques with each other. Whole kanto resembles ear of rice and arrays of paper lanterns are
compared to the straw bags of rice. Sashite put kanto on their
foreheads, hips or shoulders to pray for a huge harvest. At night, 10,000 paper lanterns light up the street and createmystical
beauty together with the sounds of drum and flute. The festival was designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural
Property in 1980, and along with Aomori Nebuta Festival and Sendai
Tanabata Festival, it is counted among the Three Great Festival of
the Tohoku region.
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