Yamakasa

Woke up really early last Saturday to watch half-naked men running around in Tenjin, Fukuoka, shouting "Oisa! Oisa!" It's sort of a race where men from Hakata Gion's seven districts race through the streets carrying decorative, one-ton floats. Spectators, a lot of them, (also shouting "Oisa! Oisa!") cheer the participants on and splash them with water.

It started at 4:59 a.m. and ended around thirty minutes after.

Don't ask me why they start at such an odd hour. There are a lot of things here in Japan that are done and followed just because... no questions asked.

Anyway, I took several pictures, which despite the limited dawn sunlight, turned out to be quite nice. Enjoy!