Kanto Matsuri

The Kanto Matsuri (竿燈まつり, "pole lantern festival") is a Tanabata-related celebration in Akita City, held every year from August 3 to 6. The highlight of the festival is an impressive display of skill in which performers balance kanto (long bamboo poles) with arrays of paper lanterns attached to the end. The Kanto Matsuri together with Aomori's Nebuta Festival and Sendai's Tanabata makes up the three great festivals of the Tohoku Region.

The kanto poles come in different sizes with the largest measuring 12 meters, weighing 50 kilograms and carrying as many as 46 paper lanterns, lit by real candles. To the sound of drums, flutes and onlookers chanting "dokkoisho, dokkoisho", each kanto is hoisted up by a single performer who balance them on end using various techniques. The performers change every few minutes and gradually add extensions to the pole until they are at their maximum height.

The main event of the festival, the night parades, are held nightly along Kanto Odori street in the center of the city. The various performing groups, carrying over 250 kanto poles, line up on the street, and when a signal is given, the poles are all raised up at once and the performers show off their skills. The event lasts about 90 minutes, and at the end of each night there is a 15 minute session during which the audience is invited to talk to the performers, take pictures and try their hand at hoisting up a kanto.

The performing area is nearly one kilometer long, and there are plenty of places to sit on the sidewalk along the route. The ends of the closed off road offer a particularly spectacular view, but can be more crowded. Paid reserved seats are set up on the median of the road, and reservations can be made beginning a few months in advance on the official Japanese website. Naturally, it is more crowded on festival days that fall on a weekend.

The festival also has daytime events which are mainly held at Agora Plaza in front of the Seibu Department Store which are held from 10:00 to 17:00 on all days of the festival. One of the activities that visitors can participate in is lifting miniature kanto poles.

Additionally, Kanto Competitions are held during daytime on the last three days of the festival on the plaza around the Akita Museum of Art. Every kanto group fields one or two teams to compete in categories such as solo, group and performance set to music. The competitions are free to attend and no seating is provided.

Also of interest is the Kanto Museum (or Neburinagashi-kan) where you can learn about the history of the festival and try out balancing a kanto pole yourself.