Fukuoka’s historic center lit up one October evening for Hakata’s Lantern Festival. The whole Hakata community, from schools, shrines to enterprises took part in this annual celebration. Asawa and I took a stroll around to see what its all about.
Hakata’s streets were it up everywhere.
We chanced upon a procession moments after exiting the Gion subway station.
Geishas appeared out of nowhere. It happened so fast I barely had time to fix my camera settings.
They were followed by young ladies in Kimonos.
The shrine was also littered with small lanterns.
A turn from the shrine led us to a field with a thousand lanterns scattered.
So we went for a closer look. Then we decided, perhaps its best to see it from up high.
Hmmm, getting clearer now. A few more steps higher…
Ahh, its the local baseball team Softbank Hawk’s mascot!
Meanwhile, in other parts of Hakata, unique lanters are on display.
Suddenly we hear the loud bang of drums. We rushed to the sound because we knew what it was…
It was a taiko performance, one of my favorite forms of music…the perfect way to end the evening.
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Beautiful photos, looks like it was a great evening! It’s the kind of event id love to see for real one day.
The 8th pic down has some floaty disembodied heads behind the hedge, spooky!
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Hi James! Thanks for visiting! The disembodied heads were a result of poor flash techniques, but in the spirit of Holloween, I’ll say they were floating around the shrine that night! haha.
So exciting to share this wonderful festival via your blog and the outstanding photographs! How I would love to see it in person!
Thanks Carmen! Come visit Fukuoka soon, there is always something happening around the corner!
That looks like a great event. I don’t think I have ever seen a festival with so many lanterns.