Visit Nara

Katsuragi holds this festival on the weekend of the second Monday in October. The villages that constitute the town haul five danjiri through the streets. These are like shrines on wheels; each danjiri team dresses uniquely and performs their own songs and dances according to a chosen theme. The locals pull, push, surround, ride and generally overwhelm the danjiri as it inches through the rowdy crowds. Festivals like these are times when Japanese step out of the strict order of daily life and celebrate, giving up rules and roles and letting it all fly for a fleeting moment.