Japanese Tree Riding Festival

Japanese festival participants ride a giant fir tree log down a steep hill in the traditional onbashira festival near suwa grand shinto shrine in shimosuwa town photo.

Japanese tree riding festival. A festival of two halves held without fail for more than a millennium 1 200 years is the official count the onbashira festival is carried out in two segments the first called the yamadashi and the last. This tree may be at a shrine or simply tastefully put in your front garden. Matsuris are powerful energetic exciting and enjoyable everybody is always welcome to participate. The date and nature of each festival are different from community to community.

Known as hanami in japanese cherry blossom festivals are an important custom and are held all over japan during the spring. Matsuri are traditional japanese festivals and each of them has a long history. During the festival participants fell massive fir trees and then young men ride them down hillsides in a test of faith and bravery. Its where the japanese ride a giant log down a hill and get worked doing it.

While this festival of replenishing the shrines with new trees has been going on for the past 1200 years the log riding portion kiotoshi seems to be a more recent sporting event. Japan is known around the world for its cherry blossom festivals. Tanabata is a celebration which occurs every year in japan. Does anyone have a link to video footage of the japanese log riding festival onbashira.

Epa by julian ryall in tokyo. Every six years the suwa area in central nagano celebrates the onbashira festival. It is associated with people of all ages making a wish writing it on colorful strips of paper tanzaku and tying them to a bamboo tree. That said do not expect to see the flowers wherever you go the trees bloom at different times throughout japan.

A look at the 2010 onbashira festival in suwa nagano japan. Japanese tree riding festival. Japanese tree riding festival. Festival participants ride the onbashira as they are slid down the mountain dragged to the shrine and raised and the festival has the reputation of being the most dangerous in japan due to the number of people regularly injured or killed while riding the logs.

Japanese tree riding festival.