🏮 Karatsu Kunchi

唐津くんち

Karatsu, Saga (Karatsu Shrine) · Every year on 2, 3 and 4 November

UNESCO Intangible Cultural HeritageImportant Intangible Folk Cultural PropertyFloatsMikoshiTraditional performing arts

49 days to go
Rooms around Karatsu, Saga fill up while the festival is on.

Karatsu Kunchi is the autumn grand festival of Karatsu Shrine in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, and was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2016. Every year from November 2 to 4, 14 enormous hikiyama (festival floats) parade through the old castle town. Weighing 2 to 4 tons, the floats are dry-lacquer craft pieces finished with washi paper and lacquer, and the sight of each town pulling its float with 200 to 400 pullers attracts a total of more than 500,000 spectators. The festival's origins are traced to a procession of the mikoshi (portable shrine) that is said to have begun in the Kanbun era of the Edo period (1661-1673). The present floats appeared in 1819, when Katanamachi dedicated the "Red Lion," and by 1876, 15 floats had been made (one was later lost, leaving 14). They were originally built as offerings to guard the mikoshi, and in 1980 the "Karatsu Kunchi float procession" was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. The highlights lie in the events of the three days. On November 2, the "Yoiyama" features the floats parading through the night streets lit by lanterns; on the 3rd, the "Otabyo Shinko" centers on the mikoshi in a daytime procession, with the hauling of the floats onto the sand a spectacular sight. On the 4th, the "Futsukamachi" sees each town's float make its final procession and be returned to the exhibition hall, where it sleeps until the following year.

Getting there

About 15 minutes on foot from JR Karatsu Station. Alternatively, take a bus from Karatsu Station and get off at "Oteguchi," then about 5 minutes on foot.