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Yamagata Hanagasa Festival | |
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What's this? Yamagata Hanagasa Festival photos by Philbert Ono. Held during August 5-7 in Yamagata.
The Yamagata Hanagasa Matsuri (Aug. 5-7) is another dance parade held in the evening. The dancing is characterized by the hanagasa, or flower hat, which is held with both hands and swung left and right, above the head, etc. The festival originated as a rice-planting prayer for a good harvest.
The artificial red flowers on the hats symbolize the safflower, the city flower. The 1.2-kilometer parade route is a short bus ride from Yamagata Station. Over the three evenings, 10,000 dancers of all ages dance through the street to the prerecorded folk tune of "Yassho, makasho!" blaring through the loudspeakers.
An average of 300,000 tourists watch the parade per evening. You can also join in at the end of the parade.
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Last modified: 2004-06-16
