In Japan, Danjiri Festivals are also known as “fighting shrine festivals” in which staged battles between elaborately decorated wooden floats in the shape of a shrine or temple are pulled by locals.

In Kinosaki Onsen, the Danjiri Festival is held to worship the guardian deity of hot springs and the guardian deity of water at Shisho Shrine, as well as to pray for a good harvest and safety. The festival also contributes to the story of the deity of Shisho Shrine traveling to all of Kinosaki Onsen’s seven mystic hot springs to pray, when on its way home to Shisho Shrine, a large danjiri float blocks their path.

The festival runs for two days, and on October 15, the quiet hot spring town will become alive with thundering drums and chants as locals push their 5 carts near the willow-lined bridges of Kinosaki Onsen.