Enjoy Akita in the summer season Heated atmosphere and powerful craftsmanship in Kantou Festival, elegance of the castle town, and taste of the local

Even this year, Akita Kantou Festival in Akita City, Akita Prefecture, that is one of “Tohoku 4 major festival” along with Sendai Tanabata Festival in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Aomori Nebuta Festival in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, and Yamagata Hanagasa Festival in Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture, is held from 8/3 to 8/6.

Kantou means a long pole, sometimes it has 12 meters.
Putting a lighted lantern on this pole, so that this pole looks like an ear of rice, and this lantern looks like a straw rice-bag.

People pray for a good harvest to put 50kg of Kantou on their head, waist, or shoulders with good balancing, and this is surely the craftsmanship.
This is the traditional event in the summer season representing Akita, that is designated as the important intangible folk cultural asset.

Kantou Festival is not only the viewpoint in Akita City.

There are historic Akita-jo Castle, built for a long time ago, and an early modern times castle Kubota-jo Castle, doesn’t have stone walls and a castle tower, and these are necessary to see.

Around Kobota-jo Castle is maintained as “Senshu Garden”, and this is a place of recreation and relaxation for the citizens.
After visiting “Hachiman Akita Shrine” or “Iyataka Shrine”, we recommend you to take a rest at a tea-house “Matsushita Saryo”.

Delicious green tea and coffee will heal you from the fatigues by strolling.

Then, speaking of local foods in Akita, “Kiritanpo (mashed rice pressed on a cryptomeria skewer and toasted)” and “Shottsurunabe (fish and vegetables boiled in fish stock) are famous.
There are a lot of tatami floored tasteful restaurants built as the old folk style house, so it’s good to enjoy Akita foods in Japanese atmosphere.

More than 1,300,000 people visit to Kantou Festival.
The summer has come to Akita, that is able to enjoy the heated atmosphere in the castle town, and local foods.

Source of photos:http://www.kantou.gr.jp/overseas/tokyo01.htm

http://marutomisuisan.jpn.com/nagaya-akita/

Tags:tatami Akita KantouFestival Tohoku4majorfestival AkitajoCastle KubotajoCastle Kiritanpo Shottsurunabe