Written by Greg Lane
This is the main festival for Karatsu Shrine — a shrine with over 400 years of history and one of Saga Prefectures most popular festivals.
The feature of this festival is the giant “Hikiyama” floats that are pulled through the streets. The floats weigh between 2 and 4 tonnes and may be up to 7 meters in height. The highlight of the festival is day 2 (November 3) when the floats are dragged along the beach through the sand — often getting stuck.
