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The Mainichi

Hakata Yamakasa festival shows off floats to cheers in downtown Fukuoka

FUKUOKA -- Floats paraded through the streets of downtown Fukuoka July 13 during the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival, to the cheers of locals and tourists. The Yamakasa floats are the main attraction of the 15-day festival. This year's first float left the Gofukumachi intersection in Fukuoka's Hakata Ward at 3:30 p.m., followed by another six floats at five-minute intervals. The floats then made U-turns in front of Fukuoka City Hall in the Tenjin district of Chuo Ward. Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima and other representatives from local business and political circles hopped on one of the floats and encouraged the float carriers. The festival's last highlight, "oi yamakasa," will start from Kushida Shrine in Hakata Ward at 4:59 a.m. on July 15.