Kishiwada Danjiri Festival (September Festival)

See the impressive speed and cornering of the danjiri floats

The approximately 300-year-old Kishiwada Danjiri Festival is steeped in history and tradition. It is said that a feudal lord of the Kishiwada clan prayed both for the ceremonial transfer of Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari deities to within his castle’s walls and for a bountiful harvest, with the Inari Festival that took place being the origin of the festival. At Kishiki-jinja Shrine, a different explanation has it that the townspeople started the festival as a means of eradicating plague. At ceremonies involving danjiri and floats that are held in localities around the country, the main point of interest is watching them take corners. The danjiri floats used in the Kishiwada Festival approach right angles at high speed then change direction; watch how the participants manage to keep a moving danjiri, weighing more than 4 tons, under control. During the two days of the festival, the danjiri rush around and around the prescribed course, and at every corner perform these yarimawashi turns.

Danjiri: A term used in western Japan to denote dashi, which are objects that are pulled or that are carried on the shoulder during ceremonies as oblations. These come in various forms, and are gorgeously decorated with flowers, dolls or other objects.

For more info :
https://www.city.kishiwada.osaka.jp/site/danjiri/