Mamurogawa Hakuatsuron (真室川ホワイトアスロン)

"Praying for the five-grain harvest and plentiful fishing from Lake Ogawara, neighbourhood teams in Tohoku-machi's Kamikita district parade hand-made dashi floats to the cry of 'Yare, Yare' along a one-kilometre course in one of Aomori's most community-rooted autumn customs."

Tohoku-machi Aki Matsuri Kamikita (東北町秋まつり上北地区)

"In this remarkably preserved samurai village, eighteen hikiyama kabuki floats weighing several tonnes are hauled through cherry-lined streets and deliberately rammed into one another at crossroads in the centuries-old buttsuke collision ritual."

Kakunodate no Matsuri (角館祭り)

"A three-night parade of elaborately costumed dashi floats, mikoshi portable shrines and the haunting shika-odori deer dance winds through the streets of this Kenji Miyazawa hometown, celebrating the rice harvest under lantern light."

Hanamaki Matsuri (花巻まつり)

"In the valley made legendary by Kunio Yanagita's folklore collection, this harvest matsuri gathers the region's rarest rural performing arts: chagu chagu horse processions, shishi-odori deer dance troupes, kagura shrine dances and mounted archery yabusame."

Tono Matsuri (遠野まつり)

"The centrepiece of Tohoku-machi's central district autumn festival is the Hinomoto-Chuo Taimatsu fire ceremony, a torch-lit night rite commemorating the Heian-era stone inscription marking Japan's ancient geographical centre, paired with dashi float processions and kagura music."

Tohoku-machi Chuo Aki Matsuri (東北町中央秋まつり)

"Dating to the 1360s, this northern Iwate coast festival sees eight neighbourhood teams parade hand-built floats that rise to twelve metres, processing through the main street to pray for a bountiful harvest and avert disaster."

Kuji Aki Matsuri (久慈秋まつり)

"One of Okinawa's three great tug-of-war festivals, with 450 years of history, pitting East and West teams of around a thousand residents against each other on a five-tonne rope in this small coastal town."

Yonabaru Dai Tsunahiki Matsuri (Yonabaru Great Tug-of-War Festival)

"Itoman's sacred hare, believed to descend from the Ryukyu Kingdom era, features the dramatic kunnukase capsize race in which crews must flip their sabani boat, bail it out, and race to the finish in this ancient fishing port."

Itoman Haree (糸満ハーレー)

"On tiny Ojima Island linked to the Okinawa mainland by a single bridge, the nagarebune race sees competitors leap from the bridge into the sea before scrambling into their sabani boats and rowing to the finish."

Ojima Hari (Nanjo Dragon Boat Race)

"Kin Town's annual sabani dragon boat races are held at Kin Sunrise Beach, a broad golden-sand bay on the central Okinawa coast, blending Ryukyuan maritime ritual with the natural drama of the open Pacific."

Kin Town Hari (Kin Sunrise Beach)

"The tiny sacred island of Hamahiga, revered as the birthplace of the Ryukyuan people, hosts its own sabani dragon boat race on Yukkanuhi, with the Hama district competing separately from the neighbouring Higa district on the same day."

Hamahiga Island Hama District Hari

"Hamahiga Island's Higa district holds its own annual sabani boat race on the sacred Yukkanuhi day, a community event entirely distinct from the neighbouring Hama district race taking place simultaneously on the same island."

Hamahiga Island Higa District Hari