Hakata Gion Yamakasa is a festival of Gion Gozu Tenno, who is enshrined in the main hall of Kushida Shrine, the guardian deity.
Gion Goryo-e, held at Kyoto’s Yasaka Shrine, began in the Heian period, and is an event where floats are erected and paraded through town on June 15 of the lunar calendar, and have spread throughout the country, giving rise to urban festivals.
Hakata Gion Yamakasa is held from July 1st to July 15th every year, and during the festival, gorgeously decorated Yamakasa festivals over 10 meters long are lined up in more than 10 locations around the city.
Starting on the 10th, during the second half of the festival, a one-ton float Yamakasa gallops through the town.
The festival moved from a static Yamakasa to a dynamic Yamakasa, and at 4:59 in the early morning on the 15th, there was an Oi Yamakasa, in which seven Kaki Yamakasa headed for the 5-kilometer finish line in Hakata at dawn. The festival reaches its climax as it runs through the town.
There are various theories about the origin of Hakata Gion Yamakasa, but it is said that it began in 1241 when Seiichi Kokushi returned from the Song Dynasty and, in order to quell an epidemic, rode on a Segaki-dana carried by the townspeople and sprinkled prayer water.
Segaki-dana, also called bon-dana or spirit-dana, is a shelf used to make small offerings to the spirits of hungry demons.
This festival boasts over 770 years of history and tradition.