Akita Kanto Festival (秋田竿燈まつり, official site)
Akita Kanto Festival is being held in Akita City, Akita Prefecture, between 03-06 August every year.
The main attraction of the festival is the night parade of Kanto (or Kantou, meaning lanterns on bamboo)
where they will showcase their skills to balance the Kanto. The parade also features Hayashi (囃子, musicians).
There are 4 kinds of Kanto :
* Oowaka (大若, for adults, 46 lanterns, weight 50kg, 12 meter tall)
* Chuwaka (中若, 46 lanterns, weight 30kg, 9 meter tall)
* Kowaka (小若, for elder primary schoolers, 24 lanterns, weight 15kg, 7 meter tall)
* Youjaka/Itowaka (幼若, for younger primary schoolers and below, 24 lanterns, weight 5kg, 5 meter tall).
There were also Kanto competitions at day time during the festival.
Please note that the night parade streets were very dark and without street lamps (turned off for the parade).
I was without tripod the whole night and was without flashlights for the first 1.5 hours, so the photos are not optimal.
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| Performers at the food stalls area in the afternoon before the night parade
| Kanto preparing for the night parade
| Kanto preparing for the night parade
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| Kanto preparing for the night parade
| Hayashi preparing for the night parade
| Hayashi preparing for the night parade
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| Kanto preparing for the night parade
| Kanto preparing for the night parade
| Kanto preparing for the night parade
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| Kanto preparing for the night parade
| Kanto preparing for the night parade
| Kanto preparing for the night parade
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| Pre-parade dance
| Pre-parade dance
| Pre-parade dance
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| Pre-parade dance
| Pre-parade dance
| All parties hurrying into their positions
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| All parties hurrying into their positions
| All parties hurrying into their positions
| All parties hurrying into their positions
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| All parties hurrying into their positions
| All parties hurrying into their positions
| All parties hurrying into their positions
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| Hayashi started their performance right before the start of the parade
| Kanto in position
| Start of the parade : raising the Kanto
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| Raising the Kanto
| Kanto performance started
| Kanto performance
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| Kanto performance
| Kanto performance
| Kanto and Hayashi parties readying themselves for the second performance
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| Hayashi performance
| Hayashi performance
| Child Kanto performance
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| Child Kanto performance
| Child Kanto performance
| Child Kanto performance
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| Child Kanto performance
| Hayashi performance
| Kanto performance
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| Hayashi performance
| Kanto performance
| Kanto performance
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| Rushed back to hotel to get flashlights near the end of the parade
| Kanto performance
| End of the parade
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| End of the parade
| End of the parade
| End of the parade. The next half hour was for tourist to take photos with the Kanto
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| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
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| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
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| Local TV station interviewing one of the parade parties
| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
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| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
| Tourist posing for photos with the Kanto
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| Kanto and Hayashi parties leaving the venue
| Kanto leaving the venue
| Kanto leaving the venue
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| Kanto and Hayashi parties leaving the venue
| Hayashi leaving the venue
| Hayashi leaving the venue
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| Hayashi leaving the venue
| Hayashi leaving the venue
| Next day, the Lotus flowers in the pond near the day time Kanto competition venue
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| Lotus flowers
| Lotus flowers
| Lotus flowers
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| Kanto near the competition venue
| Kanto near the competition venue
| Kanto near the competition venue
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| Kanto near the competition venue
| Notice describing the Kanto competition
| Hayashi competition
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| Junior Kanto competition
| Junior Kanto competition
| Junior Kanto competition
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| Junior Hayashi competition
| Junior Hayashi competition
| Junior Hayashi competition
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| Kanto competition - hand balancing
| Kanto competition - hand balancing
| Kanto competition - forehead balancing
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| Kanto competition - forehead balancing
| Kanto competition - waist balancing
| Kanto competition - waist balancing
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| Kanto competition - shoulder balancing
| Kanto competition - forehead balancing
| Kanto competition - waist balancing
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avi H.264 movie file - 00:18, 2.1MB
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avi H.264 movie file - 00:39, 4.8MB
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avi H.264 movie file - 00:33, 4.2MB
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Night parade - Hayashi and Kanto entering the venue
Link to YouTube
Manually select HD 1080P for best result
| Kanto performance
Link to YouTube
Manually select HD 1080P for best result
| Hayashi performance
Link to YouTube
Manually select HD 1080P for best result
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avi H.264 movie file - 02:44, 20.4MB
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Day competition - Kanto (1 full session)
Link to YouTube
Manually select HD 1080P for best result
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