Karatsu Kunchi (唐津くんち; the suffix "kunchi" simply meaning

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

) is a

Japanese festival Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. Many festivals have their roots in traditional Chinese festivals, but have undergone extensive changes over time to have little resemblance to ...

that takes place annually in the city of

Karatsu is a city located in Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Its name, formed from the Japanese word roots 唐 ''kara'' (China, or continental East Asia in general), and 津 ''tsu'' (port), signifies its historical importance as a ...

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...

, on

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 north ...

's island of

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

About

The festival, which begins on the evening of November 2 and concludes on 4th, features daily parades of fourteen '' hikiyama'', massive floats in the form of

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

helmets, sea

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

s, and other fantastical creatures, all constructed from wood, lacquer, and other materials. It is the major event of the Karatsu calendar, regularly drawing crowds of anywhere between 150,000 and 500,000 people from the surrounding area over the course of the three-day holiday. Hikiyama

Each float — which stand between five and six meters, and which weigh anywhere from two to five

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s — is drawn through the streets of the city by teams of bearers selected from families living in the fourteen traditional neighborhoods of Karatsu, to the chant of "En-ya! En-ya! En-ya!"(or"Yoi-sa! Yoi-sa! Yoi-sa!") and the music of

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming m ...

drummers and

flutist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with Reed (instrument), reeds, a fl ...

s perched on the floats' base. The event, which is coordinated by the local

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

(near which the floats are stored during the rest of the year), has been held for several centuries now; the current incarnations of the floats were constructed between 1819 and 1876. In 1980, the festival was designated an "Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property".

List of ''hikiyama''

# The Red lion (赤獅子) built by the Katana-machi district (1819) # The Green lion (中町の青獅子) built by the Naka-machi district (1824) # The Turtle and

Urashima Taro Urashima may refer to: *Urashima Tarō is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (''otogi banashi''), who in a typical modern version is a fisherman rewarded for rescuing a turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) b ...

(カメと浦島太郎) by the Zaimoku-machi district (1841) #*It was not Taro originally but a gem on the turtle when it was first built. # Samurai

Minamoto Yoshitsune was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo c ...

Kabuto ' (兜, 冑) is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors which, in later periods, became an important part of the traditional Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan. Note that in the Ja ...

(源義経の兜) by Gofuku-machi (1844) # The Sea

(鯛) by Uoya-machi (1845) # The

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

-shaped ship (鳳凰丸) by Oishi-machi (1846) # The Flying

(飛龍) by Shin-machi (1846) # The Golden lion (金獅子) by Hom-machi (1847) #

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

(武田信玄の兜) by Kiwata-machi (1864) #

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as was a Japanese ''daimyō''. He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Known as ...

(上杉謙信の兜) by Hirano-machi (1869) # The Drunken

ogre An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...

Minamoto Yorimitsu was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was m ...

's Kabuto (酒呑童子と源頼光の兜) (1869) # The Lion on an orb (珠取獅子) by Kyo-machi (1875) # The Tiger-headed

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...

(鯱) by Kako-machi (1876) # The Boat of seven treasures (七宝丸) by Egawa-machi (1876) # Disappeared: The black lion (黒獅子) by Konya-machi

Food and culture

Many families will spend hours preparing food for people that will visit throughout the festival. This is a regular practice.

Event Dates

The event takes place on the 2nd, 3 and 4 November. The 3rd is a national holiday in Japan called Culture Day.

References

{{commons+cat, Karatsu Kunchi
Japan Atlas: Karatsu Kunchi Festival

Fukuoka Now Event Calendar
Festivals in Japan Festivals in Saga Prefecture November events