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The is a festival held annually in
Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. With more than 840 years of history, Dontaku is a traditional festival. Among Fukuoka citizens it has become an important part of Fukuoka citizens' lives and is one of the three major festivals in Fukuoka. Following the opening night event of 2 May, a 1.2 km stretch of Meiji-dori, one of Fukuoka's busiest thoroughfares, is closed to vehicles and transformed into "Dontaku Street".


Overview

The Hakata Dontaku is a festival that has been held every year since 1962 during Golden Week, from 3 to 4 May in
Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. There are usually over 650 groups, 33,000 people of performer and audience of over 2 million people during these two days. Along with "Takada-jō Hyakuman'nin Kan'oukai" in Niigata Joetsu city, "Hirosaki Sakura festival" in
Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total are ...
Hirosaki city and “
Hiroshima Flower Festival The is a flower festival held annually in Hiroshima, Japan. Overview The Hiroshima Flower Festival has been held every year since 1977 during Golden Week (Japan), Golden Week, from 3 May to 5 May. More than one million people take part in the f ...
” in
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...
, "Hakata Dontaku" is also one of the most famous and biggest festivals in Japan. Moreover, it is also one of the biggest three festivals in Fukuoka, two other popular festivals in Fukuoka are “
Hakata Gion Yamakasa is a Japanese festival celebrated from the 1st until the 15th of July in Hakata, Fukuoka. The festivities are centered on the Kushida Jinja. The festival is famous for the Kakiyama, that weigh around one ton and are carried around the city as ...
” and "Hōjōya". Now it is hosted by Fukuoka Chamber of commerce and Fukuoka Tourism Association and is called Fukuoka citizens' Festival – Hakata Dontaku Matsuri. There will be people from in and outside of Fukuoka as well as from overseas to see this huge festival. This festival has two main parts which are parade and performance. Men and women regardless of age walk through the streets in various costumes, and they are playing some instruments, and others clap with rice scoping spoons (
Shamoji A or rice paddle is a large flat spoon used in East Asian cuisine. It is used to stir and to serve rice, and to mix vinegar into the rice for sushi. ''Shamoji'' are traditionally made from bamboo, wood, or lacquer, and nowadays often fro ...
). People who join the meeting that is usually held in February can be participated in the parade so in the past
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
and
Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...
came and joined the parade. Also, there would be more than 30 stages/performance places in the city.


Etymology

The word "Dontaku" originates in Dutch "zondag." "zon" means Sun and "dag" means day. "zondag" itself means Sunday or holiday. Dontaku was named by Meiji government for a holiday at 1879 which is about 150 years ago. The origins of Hakata Dontaku is called Matsubayashi. Matsubayashi was to celebrate an old New Year. (
Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a calendar year whose months are Lunar phase, moon cycles, based on the lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar. The Lunar New Year as a celebration is observed by numerous cultures. It is also named "Chinese New ...
.) It was an event of welcoming gods who bring happiness to a new year. The beginning of Matsubayashi was in
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...
and usually people visited a lord's castle to perform a traditional dance. Since then this celebration had spread to all over the country then it came to Hakata as well. Hakata Matsubayashi started at 1179 so that Hakata Matsubayashi itself has over 840 years of history. Hakata Matsubayashi was to honor
Taira no Shigemori was the eldest regent of the Taira clan patriarch, Taira no Kiyomori. He supported his father in the Heiji Rebellion. He died two years before his father. His son, Taira no Koremori, became a monk in 1184, and drowned himself. Oda Nobunaga cl ...
after his death. He is known for one of the greatest samurai because he brought further benefit to Hakata by activating the trade with China. People in Hakata started Hakata Matsubayashi as the way to show him respect. This is just one story that has been told how it was started, but there are other historical stories that explain the beginning of Hakata Matsubayashi as well. The main idea of Hakata Matsubayashi during
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...
(1603年~1868年) was that many samurai visit
Fukuoka Castle is a Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It is also known as Maizuru Castle (舞鶴城 Maizuru-jō) or Seki Castle (石城 Seki-jō). Completed in the early Edo period for ''tozama daimyō'' Kuroda Nagamasa, it has been decreed ...
where '' Fukuoka han'' was based. Fukuoka han was the top of all samurai in Fukuoka, so samurais visited them to show respect at the time of Lunar New Year. A line to the Hakata Castle called "Torimon" which consisted of three Gods of fortune. After they visited Hakata han, they went around the city and visited shrines, temples, and houses of person with authority. It was like a huge celebration and citizens joined and enjoyed it by following the line or performing some dance. However, the governor banned it at Meiji 5 (1872) because the government didn't want people to waste their money on this event instead they hoped people to use more money to celebrate the emperor's birthday. Seven years later, at Meiji 12 (1879), Hakata Matsubayashi was started again and changed the name to "Hakata Dontaku" It has been told that not only the name but event date and style of the event were changed as well. It wasn't a celebration of Lunar New Year anymore and what people did during the festival period slightly adjusted. After all these changes, it was again cancelled at 1941 because of the war. After the war, 1946, the festival was held on 24 May. Since 1949, Hakata Dontaku is held annually from 3–4 May.


Event schedule


2 May

Hakata Dontaku is a 2 days event but there will be an opening night event night before the festival starting from 4:30 PM until 8:30 PM on 2 May. A group called "Dontaku Tai" will be performing and also people decide the Miss Fukuoka at that night as well. This show will be on
RKB Mainichi Broadcasting (stylized as ''rkb'') is a broadcasting station in Fukuoka, Japan, and it is affiliated with Japan Radio Network (JRN), Japan News Network (JNN) and TBS Network. It is owned by Mainichi Broadcasting System, Mainichi Shimbun and the Aso Gr ...
so that people can enjoy watching this performances on TV. In order to come and see the show people need to have an entrance ticket which will be handed out 2 weeks before the event and free.


3 May

The first day of Hakata Dontaku. Festival will be starting with origins of Dontaku, Matsubayashi parade. 3 Gods of fortune ride horses and walk around the city of Fukuoka as original Matsubayashi did in the history. Thousands of performers will be dancing and walking down the street called "Meiji street." People wear various costumes and clap with rice scoping spoons, play instruments, wear masks and so on. Streets will be full of people both performer and audiences. Beside, Hana Jidosha which is cars that are decorated with lights and flowers are also essential part of this event.


4 May

The second day of Hakata Dontaku. Schedule will be nearly the same as the first day. There will be Hakata Matsubayashi, Parade and Hana Jidosha. Since this is the last day, there will be a finale that everyone gather and dance to enjoy the last moment of the festival.


References


External links


Official website
{{coord missing, Fukuoka Prefecture Festivals in Japan Tourist attractions in Fukuoka Festivals in Fukuoka Prefecture Events in Fukuoka Culture in Fukuoka