Akita Kantō Matsuri (秋田竿燈まつり) 秋田竿燈まつり

The largest pole weighs 50 kg, is 12 m tall and carries 46 lanterns: balanced on a single hand.

Its roots lie in the Edo-period summer purification rite against the torpor of the heat (eyamidoshi); the form with lanterns took shape around the Kansei period, at the end of the eighteenth century, modelled on the lantern displays of local merchants. It is held every year from 3 to 6 August along Kantō-dōri avenue, in the centre of Akita.

Akita