Kyushu Festivals

Sasebo's seaside festival with fireworks over Sasebo Bay.

Teams pull an enormous rope in a traditional autumn contest in Satsumasendai.

A ceremonial burning of paper umbrellas recalls the tale of the Soga brothers.

Participants dressed as deities parade through Takachiho in a celebration of local mythology.

Communities welcome their deities with all-night kagura performances during the autumn and winter season.

Bamboo lanterns illuminate Taketa's temples and historic lanes on autumn evenings.

New Year rites at Takezaki preserve dances and a ritual struggle around a box containing an oni mask.

Donated lanterns illuminate Terukuni Shrine during Kagoshima's summer Rokugatsudo celebrations.

Carried floats transform from daytime banners into glowing tiers of lanterns after dark.

Dancers parade to Ushibuka Haiya folk music in the port town of Ushibuka.

Elegant festival where women dance with paper lantern crowns on their heads.

A shrine procession featuring decorated floats and a turtle-serpent figure celebrates autumn in Yatsushiro.