There are some awesome Japanese festivals that occur in May, one of which is the Sanja Matsuri (三社祭) or Sanja Festival. This festival in Japanese literally means “three shrine festival”. The festival is dedicated to three men who founded an ancient Buddhist temple called Sensōji (浅草寺). The main event is when three portable shrines called mikoshi (神輿) is paraded through the streets. The mikoshi is believed to be the vessel where the souls of the three men are housed.

The Mikuni Matsuri (三国祭り) will take place in the town of Mikuni, in Fukui Prefecture (福井県). The Festival will take place sometime around the 19^th to the 21^st of May. The Mikuni Festival features a large float carrying large effigies of famous Japanese warriors. These floats are around five to six meters tall. There is an old belief that parading the warriors through the streets will ensure the safety of the town, because it will scare away bandits.

The Hamamatsu Matsuri (浜松祭り) is a large kite flying festival in Shizuoka Prefecture (静岡県). Teams of people help decorate, build, maneuver and fly these kites in the sky. These kites are not your average kites. They are controlled by ropes and constantly monitored by more than one person. The main event of the Hamamatsu Festival is the competition where local teams try to bring the kites of the other teams down to the ground.

The Kamezaki Shiohi Matsuri (亀崎潮干祭り) takes place in Handa City (半田市) in Aichi Prefecture (愛知県). A festival float made of wood is paraded through the streets and pulled to the beach. During the low tide, the townspeople pull the festival float into the water. It’s difficult as it is to try to push the float on the ground, but trying to push it through the sand is almost twice as arduous. Then the float has to be maintained in the water as well. Kudos to the townspeople for all their hard work!