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TourismOutline of Oita City

 

Tanabata Festival

Funai Pachin picture
Funai Pachin
 
 

 

Samba Chikirin dance picture
Samba Chikirin dance

Tanabata Festival, the biggest festival in Oita City, is held downtown starting on the first Friday of August and lasting until Sunday night.

On the first day(Friday), after an opening parade featuring brass bands, majorettes, and beauty pageant queens from all over Kyushu, some 2000 dancers - including groups from outside of Oita prefecture like Oita's sister city, Oibihiro in Hokkaido - perform the Chikirin dance and the Samba Chikirin dance.


 

O-mikoshi picture
O-mikoshi

These dances are followed by some twenty colorfully illustrated, paper lantern-style floats, which are lit from within. These illustrations on these enormous glowing floats depict famous warriors/heros from ancient China and samurai warriors from Japan. Participants in this "Funai Pachin" christened final part of the parade shout chants of "seiya, seiya," while energetically spinning and jostling their "dashi"(floats). The name "Funai Pachin" comes from a kids game of cards that have pictures of samurai on them.

Many vendors sell food, drinks, and other items in booths at Funai Aqua Park and at Wakakusa Park throughout the weekend. In addition, "Pachin" games are held at Funai Castle Ruins Park on Friday.

On the second day, a drum festival and O-mikoshi (portable shrine) parade demonstrates the power of traditional performances. On the third day, fire works are exhibited near the Benten bridge on the Oita River to commemorate the end of the festival.