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Tsuchizaki Float Festival

Well knownIn most guidebooks for this region — but rarely with the practical detail.

Researched and written by Hinato

TsuchizakihikiyamaUNESCOAkitaJuly festival

Akita · Akita City

39.7571°N, 140.0712°E

Akita has events year-round, but Tsuchizaki Float Festival is the one locals build a calendar around.

Tsuchizaki was Akita's port, and its shrine festival has been running since the eighteenth century. On 20 and 21 July each neighbourhood pulls out a hikiyama — a wheeled float carrying a mountain of rock and pine on which warrior figures are posed in a scene, with a satirical placard on the back commenting on the year's politics. The chant is joyasa. It is a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2016 as part of the Yama, Hoko, Yatai float festivals of Japan.

The 20th is the eve, when the floats are pulled round the neighbourhoods and taken to the shrine to be blessed. The 21st is the main day: the portable shrine processes to a resting place and every neighbourhood's float meets it in the street outside. The satirical boards are worth a look even without the language — they are pointed, current and often about national politics.

Event essentials

Time to allow

3–5 hours

Timing

20–21 July

Hours

Held on 20 and 21 July annually, into the evening

Closed: Two days a year only

Cost to attend

Free to watch

Getting there

Access notes

Tsuchizaki Minato Chuo, Akita, around Tsuchizaki Shinmeisha shrine. Short walk from JR Tsuchizaki Station on the Ou Line. Held on 20 and 21 July annually — the 20th is the eve festival and the 21st the main day. Free to watch. Temporary car parks are provided; traffic restrictions apply in the district over both days.

Beyond the guidebook

**Both days, and they are different.** The 20th is neighbourhood pulling and shrine blessing; the 21st is the portable shrine procession with all the floats meeting it. The 21st is the bigger spectacle. **Read the back of the floats.** Each carries a satirical placard about the year's events, usually national politics, written in a deliberately archaic style. They are the local commentary and they are sharp. **Take the train.** Tsuchizaki Station is a short walk and the district is under traffic restriction over both days. Driving in is not worth it. **It is a port festival.** Tsuchizaki was Akita's harbour and the neighbourhood rivalry expressed in the floats goes back to the merchant houses of the eighteenth century. **Free.** No tickets, no reserved seating — you stand in the street with everyone else.

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