Akita Kanto Festival
📍 Akita, Akita
Performers balance 12-metre bamboo poles hung with up to 46 glowing paper lanterns — on their palms, foreheads, and hips — in a swaying river of light through the summer streets of Akita.
On summer nights in early August, the main avenue of Akita fills with hundreds of swaying towers of light. The Kanto Festival is a feat of balance: each performer hoists a bamboo pole up to 12 metres tall, strung with as many as 46 paper lanterns lit by candle, and balances the whole flexing, glowing mast on a palm, a forehead, a shoulder, or a hip.
Why It’s Interesting
It began as a rite to drive off summer sickness and pray for a good harvest, and it has become a hypnotic display of skill — the poles bend like wheat in the wind, the crowd gasps when one wobbles, and the whole street becomes a moving constellation. It’s counted among the three great festivals of Tohoku.
Best Time to Visit
Fixed dates: August 3–6 every year. Evenings are the main event; arrive early to claim a street-side spot or book grandstand seating ahead.
Getting There
The festival route is a short walk from Akita Station, making it easy to reach by train — leave the car behind, as central streets close.
📸 Mon-chan's camera roll
Snapshots from our very good boy on the road.
Where it is
Nearby discoveries
Mount Chokai (Dewa Fuji)
Tobishima Island
Sankyo Soko Rice Warehouses
Kamo Aquarium (Jellyfish Dream)
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