Danjiri Festival of Japan

In a small Japanese town called Kishiwada, there is a famous two-day festival. It’s called the Danjiri Festival.
It’s one of the most well-known festivals in Japan.  It started in 1703, as an autumn celebration.
Every year usually one million people attend this exciting, traditional event.

Danjiri are large, wooden floats. They are made from wood and look like shrines.
They have many human and animal figures carved in them. There is a mirror inside that represents the gods.
They are huge – they weigh three thousand kilograms.  The men pull the float in the parade.

In the early morning, the parade starts.  There are drummers and a flute player inside the danjiri.
Almost one thousand men pull the float.  The streets are very narrow,
and they pull the heavy wooden float around the corners very quickly. 
A man stands on top of the float and dances.  He has to be very brave because the risk of injury is high.
The float can fall going around the corner and crush people.  Every few years,
several people die at the Danjiri Festival because the floats sometimes fall on the crowd too! 

In the evening of the second day, everything calms down. 
People put lanterns on the float and the children pull the danjiri with their families. 
Would you go to watch the Danjiri Festival?