Karatsu Kunchi

Overview

The Karatsu Kunchi is the autumn grand festival of Karatsu Shrine in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, held each year from November 2 to 4, and it is the autumn festival representative of Karatsu. It is known throughout Japan for the spirited sight of fourteen enormous hikiyama floats, adorned with lacquer and gold leaf, parading through the old castle town to the music of flutes, drums, and gongs, and it boasts a history of some 400 years. It is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan and is one of the festivals that make up the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Yama, Hoko, and Yatai float festivals.

Kunchi is a word used in northern Kyushu for an autumn harvest festival or grand festival, and the Karatsu Kunchi is spoken of alongside the Nagasaki Kunchi and the Hakata Okunchi. The greatest feature of the Karatsu Kunchi lies in the coexistence of the sculptural beauty of floats shaped as varied subjects, such as sea bream, lions, helmets, dragons, phoenixes, and treasure ships, and the power of several hundred pullers drawing them through the streets. The floats, which the townspeople competed to build anew, are the crystallization of the wealth and aesthetic sense of Karatsu and of the pride of the community.

History & Origins

The Karatsu Kunchi has been observed as the autumn grand festival of Karatsu Shrine. The origins of the festival itself are old, and it is said to have already been held as an autumn grand festival in the early Edo period, but the gorgeous floats that characterize the present festival appeared in the late Edo period. An autumn festival praying in thanks for the harvest and for the prosperity of the region, gaining the splendid element of the floats, developed into the festival representative of Karatsu.

Among the surviving floats, the oldest is held to be the Aka-jishi, the red lion, dedicated as the first float in 1819. Thereafter each district of Karatsu built floats anew, as if competing, each staking its pride, and floats of varied subjects, lions, sea bream, helmets, dragons, phoenixes, treasure ships, and warriors, were created one after another. Thereafter, by 1876 a total of fifteen floats had been dedicated, of which one was destroyed by fire in the mid-Meiji period, so that fourteen survive today. The group of floats, built up district by district over some sixty years, may be called the culmination of the townspeople culture of Karatsu.

The floats are made by the ikkanbari technique, in which layers of Japanese paper are pasted over a wooden frame, coats of lacquer are applied, and the surface is decorated with gold leaf and the like. Many are large, weighing two to three tons, and their sturdiness and splendor are supported by the high skill of the artisans of Karatsu. That floats over a century old can still parade today is due precisely to each district having carried them on without ceasing repair and preservation.

The Karatsu Kunchi has been handed down without interruption through ages of war and turmoil. In recognition of its historical and cultural value, it was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1980. Furthermore, in 2016 it was registered, together with similar festivals from across the country, as one of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Yama, Hoko, and Yatai float festivals, and its value is recognized internationally as well. The festival of floats, raised by townspeople and protected across generations, is the very identity of Karatsu.

Highlights

The parade of the fourteen floats The greatest appeal of the Karatsu Kunchi is the sight of the fourteen floats, adorned with lacquer and gold leaf, gathering together and parading through the streets. Floats of differing designs, the red lion, the blue lion, the turtle and Urashima Taro, the sea bream, the phoenix ship, the flying dragon, and the Shippomaru, advance in a line like a procession of moving works of art. Following the parade while comparing the differing designs of each district is a pleasure unique to this festival.

The pulling-in of the Otabisho Shinko The climax of the festival is the Otabisho Shinko, held on November 3. The fourteen floats parade from Karatsu Shrine to the resting place on the Nishi-no-hama beach, and are pulled vigorously, one by one, onto the sand. The sight of several hundred pullers straining with all their might to the cry of Enya, Enya, as the wheels sink into the sand, is the foremost highlight of this festival. The difficulty of moving the heavy floats over the sand, in turn, brings out the solidarity and power of the pullers.

The cries and music of the pullers It is the pullers, clad in happi coats, who move the floats. Cries such as Yassa, Yassa and Enya, Enya resound through the streets and, uniting with the music of flutes, drums, and gongs, heighten the mood of the festival. Pulling a single float requires many people to match their breathing, and the cries also serve to make their hearts one. The music the people of Karatsu have known since childhood is the very memory of autumn in this land.

The lantern-lit floats of the night Changing in character from the daytime spirit, at night lanterns are lit on the floats. The scene of the lacquered floats floating faintly in the darkness is enchanting, showing a beauty entirely different from that of daytime. In the Yoiyama on the night of November 2, the lantern-clad floats parade through the streets, announcing the opening of the festival. That the same floats have two faces by day and by night is also a deep charm of the Karatsu Kunchi.

The sculptural beauty of the ikkanbari Seen up close, the floats overwhelm with their intricate form and weighty texture. Produced by the ikkanbari technique of layering Japanese paper and finishing with lacquer, the floats are gorgeously decorated with gold leaf and brilliant colors, and the skill of the artisans lives in every detail. One can appreciate the ingenuity and aesthetic sense embodied in each float, the fierceness of the lion, the vigor of the sea bream, and the designs of the helmets and treasure ships.

The town-wide inheritance of the festival The Karatsu Kunchi is a festival handed down with the districts that own the floats as its principal bearers. From the preservation and repair of the floats to the practice of the music and the running of the festival, it is borne by the whole town, and people from children to adults take part across generations. Behind floats over a century old still running today lies this ceaseless effort of inheritance by the townspeople. The very figure of the community that sustains the festival forms the core highlight of the Karatsu Kunchi.

Access & Information

• Location: Karatsu Shrine in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, and the old castle town in the center of Karatsu City
• Timing: Each year from November 2 to 4 (the autumn grand festival of Karatsu Shrine)
• Main events: The Yoiyama (November 2), the Otabisho Shinko (November 3, the pulling-in onto Nishi-no-hama), and the following-day festival and town circuit (November 4)
• Number of floats: Fourteen (floats dedicated by each district)
• Access: About a 10-minute walk from JR Karatsu Station. Traffic restrictions and crowding are expected during the festival, so public transport is recommended.
• Admission and year-round display: Roadside viewing of the parade is free. At the Hikiyama Exhibition Hall all fourteen floats can be viewed throughout the year. It is advisable to confirm exact dates each year through the organizers and Karatsu Shrine.

Around the Area

Karatsu City, the stage of the Karatsu Kunchi, is a castle town of northern Hizen Province facing the Genkai Sea. Karatsu Castle (Maizuru Castle), the symbol of the city, stands on a height overlooking the sea, and the view from the keep is beautiful. In the city remain works of modern architecture such as the former Karatsu Bank, supervised by Tatsuno Kingo, the Karatsu-born architect who designed Tokyo Station, and one can enjoy a townscape where the history of the castle town and the memory of the modern era coexist.

Karatsu is famed for the Niji-no-Matsubara, the Rainbow Pine Grove, counted among the three great pine groves of Japan. The forest of black pines, stretching about 4.5 kilometers along the Genkai Sea, is overwhelming, and the view of the Niji-no-Matsubara and Karatsu Bay seen from the observation deck of Mount Kagami is a landscape representative of this land. After experiencing the fervor of the festival, one can spend a quiet time amid magnificent nature.

Venturing farther into the outskirts, one can enjoy both seafood and history, at the morning market of Yobuko, known throughout Japan for live squid sashimi, and at the ruins of Nagoya Castle, which served as the base for Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaigns in Korea. As a base for a tour combined with famous sites within Saga Prefecture, such as Arita, renowned as a village of pottery, and the Yoshinogari ruins, a moated settlement of the Yayoi period, Karatsu is also appealing.

Related Information

• Timing: November 2 to 4 (autumn). The climactic Otabisho Shinko is on November 3.
• Location: Karatsu Shrine, Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture (the old castle town)
• Origins and number of floats: The autumn grand festival of Karatsu Shrine. The oldest surviving float is the Aka-jishi of 1819. A total of fifteen floats were dedicated between 1819 and 1876, of which one was lost to fire in the mid-Meiji period, leaving fourteen today.
• Floats: Large floats decorated with lacquer and gold leaf by the ikkanbari technique, weighing two to three tons, with varied subjects such as sea bream, lions, helmets, dragons, phoenixes, and treasure ships
• Cultural property: Designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1980; registered in 2016 as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage among the Yama, Hoko, and Yatai float festivals
• Kunchi: A word for an autumn grand festival in northern Kyushu; spoken of alongside the Nagasaki Kunchi and the Hakata Okunchi

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