Kakunodate Festival

Kakunodate is best known for its cherry-lined samurai lane, but its autumn festival shows a rougher side of the town. From 7 to 9 September, the yama, wheeled floats dressed with warrior dolls and pine branches, are pulled through the streets by their neighbourhoods to pay respects at Shinmeisha Shrine and Joju-in Yakushido. Each float carries musicians and dancers, and when two floats meet in a street, negotiations over who gives way sometimes fail. The result is the yama-buttsuke: the two floats are rammed together, again and again, the crews heaving on ropes and shouting, until one yields.

The days follow a loose shape. The floats process to the shrines by day, and the clashes happen after dark. A scheduled collision for visitors is staged at 18:00 on the 8th, but the spontaneous clashes, which are far more dramatic, tend to break out late on the 8th and again on the 9th as the floats make their way home. Ask around town in the evening; the locals know where the tension is building.

Kakunodate is a stop on the Akita Shinkansen from Tokyo and Morioka, and the whole town can be walked from the station. Lodging is limited and heavily booked for the festival, so a base in Akita City, Morioka or the Lake Tazawa hot springs is the practical choice. The festival has been recognised by UNESCO among the float festivals of Japan. Expect early autumn chill after dark, and understand that the clashes are genuinely rough; stand back when the crews start to move.