Karatsu Kunchi

Karatsu Kunchi (唐津くんち; the suffix "kunchi" simply meaning festival) is a Japanese matsuri that takes place annually in November in the city of Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, on Japan's island of Kyūshū.

The event takes place on 2-4 November, when the 3rd is a national holiday in Japan called Culture Day.

The festival features daily parades of fourteen hikiyama, massive floats in the form of samurai helmets, sea bream, dragons, and other fantastical creatures, all constructed from wood, lacquer, and other materials.

Each float — which stand between five and six meters, and which weigh anywhere from two to five tons — is drawn through the streets of the city by teams of bearers selected from families living in the fourteen traditional neighborhoods of Karatsu, to the chant of "En-ya!

and the music of taiko drummers and flutists perched on the floats' base.