Hakata Dontaku Minato Matsuri
Hakata Dontaku（博多どんたく港まつり）
festivals | fukuoka | see | participate ◢
The Hakata Dontaku is a festival held in Hakata, Fukuoka that takes place every year on May 3rd and 4th. It is one of the largest festivals in Japan.
The festival is said to have begun over 820 years ago as a folk custom in the Hakata area. Until the Meiji Period, the festival was held as an event where the townspeople of Hakata and the people of the castle town of Fukuoka, under the feudal lord Kuroda could mix and associate. The festival originally was held in honor of the three gods Fukugami, Ebisu, and Daikoku.
The festival was banned for a short period during the beginning of the Meiji Period by the governor of Fukuoka, who claimed that the festival was too "extravagant". However it was soon restored after which point it took on the name "Dontaku", a word that is said to have its origins in Dutch, meaning "holiday". The festival also suffered a short-lived eight year termination during World War II.
Today, the festival is conducted as a procession through the streets of Hakata where young men and women dress in distinct clothes and play traditional instruments such as the Shamisen, Taiko drums, and Shamoji. The entire festival is made up of about 600 "troupes", and along with the 30,000 participators, average turnout over the two days is typically over 2,000,000 people, making it the largest scale festival in Japan.
Main Events
The eve of the festival sees some preliminary events, attended by celebrities and associations. Among the more prominent events, "Miss Fukuoka", who serves as the face of the Fukuoka people, is elected at this time. From this day until the end of the festival the hana jidōsha 花自動車, a vehicle decorated with lights, flowers, and characters of various themes, travels through the city streets. From the 3rd, a total of four groups parade through the city streets, which forms the roots of this long-lived festival. The "Dontaku-tai" troupe performs on stages that are set up throughout the city, and parade over a kilometer through the city streets, which is the main event of the festival. Spectators are allowed to participate during the finale of the festival, which is held on the 4th. The over 30 locations where stages are set up change every year, but festivities can always be seen in the square in front of Fukuoka City Hall.
