Well, I wrote more about it here in my blog:
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Went to the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri on Tuesday and Wednesday. I actually planned to only go on Tuesday, but it was so entertaining that I decided to go Wednesday as well. Glad I did as it was much more intense on Wednesday as everyone was drunk and hollering non stop.
The Danjiri Matsuri involves pulling wooden floats through the streets of Kishiwada city in the south side of Osaka. Each float weighs about 4 tones, and is pulled by anywhere from 500 to 1000 people. Behind it are people that pull ropes that help steer it, and on the float are the most important people from that town, and the craftsman that designed and built the float.
Each little town inside of Kishiwada city has its own float, and all the residents come out to represent / protect their town during the festival. Schools shut down, and people take time off work to make sure their town is represented well, and people that have left Osaka for Tokyo or other places for university or work even come back home to take part.
The police have been trying to shut down the festival for years now, but have not had any success with it yet. Its been two years since someone died (I don窶冲 think anyone died this year), so they are on a good streak now, but I窶冦 sure that with the next death they will be raging again in hopes of stopping the running through the streets. How do people die? Well, the guy that is jumping on the float will either 1) smash his head on a streetlight if he isn窶冲 paying close attention or 2) be knocked off when they suddenly stop or crash into another float. This year I saw one guy being carried off, but I think it was just because he ran out of energy, fell, and got stepped on by a few people.
Tagged 窶弋he Most Dangerous Festival in Japan", Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is the best I窶况e seen!
