DirectRooms.com - Huge Light Pyramids Get Carried Around Fukuoka Between 22 and 24 July 2011

Online, June 1, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The parade is for Tobata Gion Yamagasa Festival, an ancient festival that has been going on for over 200 years and is now one of the main cultural events of Japan. Yamagasa is the name of the enormous floats, also called Yamakasa, which are carried along entirely by men.

During the day there are eight floats in total, two for each Tobata region that takes part and this includes Nishi, Nakabaru, Tenraiji and Higashi. Embroidery of gold and silver is hung on the floats and this is said to still look like the designs from the original festival.

For the evening the cloths come off and 309 lanterns are stacked to form twelve layers so that the paper lanterns look like a giant pyramid. The floats rise up to about 10m and can reach up to 2.5 tons in weight and it takes all the strength from 100 men in order to carry the lights.

Visitors using a Fukuoka hotel can catch the festival between 22nd and 24th July 2011 and should listen out for the carriers shouting 'yoitosa, yoitosa' which apparently helps the men to carry the heavy objects.

Lek Boonlert, marketing head at DirectRooms.com commented: "To stand a chance of getting a hotel visitors should be sure to book months in advance online."