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Japan: Performers Balance Towering Lanterns at Akita Kanto Festival

The Akita Kanto Festival, one of the three major festivals in Japan's Tohoku region with roughly 270 years of history, opened Sunday, August 2, in central Akita City and runs through August 6. This year's event features 67 groups—38 neighborhood teams and 29 school and workplace teams—swaying 273 lantern-laden bamboo poles through the night sky in a prayer for a bountiful harvest, the poles representing rice stalks. The largest of the poles measure up to 12 meters long and weigh 50 kilograms, balanced skillfully by performers on their foreheads, palms, and other parts of the body.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Participants hold bamboo poles adorned with paper lanterns, resembling ears of rice, in the northeastern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2026, the opening day of the four-day Kanto Festival.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Participants hold bamboo poles adorned with paper lanterns, resembling ears of rice, in the northeastern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2026, the opening day of the four-day Kanto Festival.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Paper lanterns hanging on bamboo poles light up the northeastern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2026, the opening day of the four-day Kanto Festival.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Paper lanterns hanging on bamboo poles light up the northeastern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2026, the opening day of the four-day Kanto Festival.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Paper lanterns hanging on bamboo poles light up the northeastern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2026, the opening day of the four-day Kanto Festival.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Participants hold bamboo poles adorned with paper lanterns, resembling ears of rice, in the northeastern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2026, the opening day of the four-day Kanto Festival.

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Japan crown prince at high school cultural festival

Japan's Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko chat with students who will perform during the Kanto Festival at a high school in Akita on July 27, 2026. The imperial couple is visiting the northeastern Japan city, where a national high school cultural festival is held.

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Tohoku Kizuna Festival in Sendai

Performers of Akita Prefecture's Kanto festival troupe hold up poles decorated with paper lanterns as they march through a street of downtown Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture during the Tohoku Kizuna Festival on June 9, 2024. The event features parades involving six northeastern Japan prefectures, with the aim of revitalizing the region following the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster.

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anto Festival in northeastern Japan

People hold bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Kanto Festival dating back over 200 years in the northeastern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2023. The lanterns are arranged in such a way as to look like ears of rice.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

People hold bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Kanto Festival dating back over 200 years in the northeastern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2023. The lanterns are arranged in such a way as to look like ears of rice.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

People hold bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Kanto Festival dating back over 200 years in the northeastern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2023. The lanterns are arranged in such a way as to look like ears of rice.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

People hold bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Kanto Festival dating back over 200 years in the northeastern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2023. The lanterns are arranged in such a way as to look like ears of rice.

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men hold bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual Kanto Festival that began in the northern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole with lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way as to look like an ear of rice. Some 1.38 million people are expected to visit the city to watch the four-day festival.

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Traditional Japanese festival performed in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea - Japan's "Akita Kanto" festival featuring the hoisting of many lantern-bearing bamboo poles is performed in hope of a good harvest during the Japan-South Korea Cultural Exchange Event in Seoul on Sept. 14, 2014.

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"Kanto Festival" starts in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Photo taken Aug. 3, 2014, in the northeastern Japan city of Akita shows "kanto" bamboo poles with paper lanterns. The city is expecting 1.35 million people to join the four-day "Kanto Festival."

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"Kanto Festival" starts in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Photo taken Aug. 3, 2014, in the northeastern Japan city of Akita shows "kanto" bamboo poles with paper lanterns. The city is expecting 1.35 million people to join the four-day "Kanto Festival."

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'Akita Kanto Festival' held in Yamagata

YAMAGATA, Japan - The Akita Kanto Festival of Akita Prefecture is held on May 24, 2014 in Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture. The festival is among six festivals typical of the Tohoku region, dubbed "the Tohoku Rokkonsai (six soul festival)" intended chiefly for the repose of souls of people who perished in the 2011 earthquake in northeastern Japan.

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Tohoku Rokkon Festival

SENDAI, Japan - Nebuta float (front) from Aomori Prefecture and ''Kanto'' lanterns (back) from Akita Prefecture are exhibited at the Sendai city office in Miyagi Prefecture on July 16, 2011, the first day of the two-day Tohoku Rokkon (six souls) Festival. The major festivals of the six prefectures in the Tohoku region, northeastern Japan, are jointly held in the hope of recovering from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

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Japan-S. Korea festival in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea - Festival lanterns from Akita Prefecture light up the night in Seoul as the ''Kanto Matsuri,'' a traditional local festival in the prefecture, was conducted on the last day of the ''Nikkan Koryu Omatsuri'' (Japan-South Korean Exchange Festival) in Seoul on Oct. 3, 2010.

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Icebreaker Shirase honors explorer

AKITA, Japan - Japan's new icebreaker Shirase makes a port call in Akita, the hometown of 1st Lt. Nobu Shirase, the explorer who led Japan's first Antarctic expedition 100 years ago and after whom it is named, on Sept. 10, 2010. A performance of the local ''Kanto Matsuri'' lantern festival was given at the port.

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Lantern festival in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men balance giant poles of lanterns on their shoulders during the Kanto festival in Akita, northeastern Japan, on Aug. 3, 2010.

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men hold up poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual Kanto Festival that began in the northern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole with lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like an ear of rice. Some 1.3 million people are expected to visit the city to watch the four-day festival.

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Long bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns are taken to the streets during the annual Kanto Festival that began in the northern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole with lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way as to look like an ear of rice.

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men hold long bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual Kanto Festival that began in the northern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole with lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way as to look like an ear of rice.

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''Kanto Festival'' begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men hold long bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual ''Kanto Festival'' that began in the northern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole and lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way as to look like an ear of rice.

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''Kanto Festival'' begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Hundreds of lanterns parade along the thoroughfare of Akita as the annual ''Kanto Festival'' begins in the northern Japan city on Aug. 3.

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Kanto Festival opens in Akita

AKITA, Japan - The traditional Kanto Festival begins in Akita on Aug. 3, with young men holding long bamboo poles bearing many lanterns in the hope of a good harvest.

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men balance ''Kanto'' -- a long bamboo pole with several horizontal ribs from which paper lanterns are hung -- at the annual Kanto Festival, which began Aug. 4 in Akita, northern Japan, in anticipation of a good harvest.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Photo shows poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Kanto Festival in the northeastern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2022. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like ears of rice.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Photo shows poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Kanto Festival in the northeastern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2022. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like ears of rice.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Men hold up poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Kanto Festival in the northeastern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2022. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like ears of rice.

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Kanto Festival in northeastern Japan

Photo shows poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Kanto Festival in the northeastern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2022. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like ears of rice.

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Kanto Festival opens in Akita

AKITA, Japan - The traditional Kanto Festival begins in Akita on Aug. 3, with young men holding long bamboo poles bearing many lanterns in the hope of a good harvest. (Kyodo)

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Akita Kanto Festival staged in Tohoku Rokkon Festival

An Akita Kanto (pole lantern) Festival parade is staged in the namesake city on May 30, 2015, during the Tohoku Rokkon (six souls) Festival. The event features summer festivals of six prefectures in the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Akita Kanto Festival staged in Tohoku Rokkon Festival

An Akita Kanto (pole lantern) Festival parade is staged in the namesake city on May 30, 2015, during the Tohoku Rokkon (six souls) Festival. The event features summer festivals of six prefectures in the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Lantern festival in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men balance giant poles of lanterns on their shoulders during the Kanto festival in Akita, northeastern Japan, on Aug. 3, 2010. (Kyodo)

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Long bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns are taken to the streets during the annual Kanto Festival that began in the northern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole with lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way as to look like an ear of rice. (Kyodo)

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men hold up poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual Kanto Festival that began in the northern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole with lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like an ear of rice. Some 1.3 million people are expected to visit the city to watch the four-day festival. (Kyodo)

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men hold bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual Kanto Festival that began in the northern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole with lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way as to look like an ear of rice. Some 1.38 million people are expected to visit the city to watch the four-day festival. (Kyodo)

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men hold long bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual Kanto Festival that began in the northern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole with lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way as to look like an ear of rice. (Kyodo)

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''Kanto Festival'' begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Men hold long bamboo poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual ''Kanto Festival'' that began in the northern Japan city of Akita on Aug. 3. Kanto literally means a pole and lanterns. The lanterns are arranged in a way as to look like an ear of rice. (Kyodo)

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''Kanto Festival'' begins in Akita

AKITA, Japan - Hundreds of lanterns parade along the thoroughfare of Akita as the annual ''Kanto Festival'' begins in the northern Japan city on Aug. 3. (Kyodo)

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Icebreaker Shirase honors explorer

AKITA, Japan - Japan's new icebreaker Shirase makes a port call in Akita, the hometown of 1st Lt. Nobu Shirase, the explorer who led Japan's first Antarctic expedition 100 years ago and after whom it is named, on Sept. 10, 2010. A performance of the local ''Kanto Matsuri'' lantern festival was given at the port. (Kyodo)

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Tohoku Rokkon Festival

SENDAI, Japan - Nebuta float (front) from Aomori Prefecture and ''Kanto'' lanterns (back) from Akita Prefecture are exhibited at the Sendai city office in Miyagi Prefecture on July 16, 2011, the first day of the two-day Tohoku Rokkon (six souls) Festival. The major festivals of the six prefectures in the Tohoku region, northeastern Japan, are jointly held in the hope of recovering from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo)

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Japan-S. Korea festival in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea - Festival lanterns from Akita Prefecture light up the night in Seoul as the ''Kanto Matsuri,'' a traditional local festival in the prefecture, was conducted on the last day of the ''Nikkan Koryu Omatsuri'' (Japan-South Korean Exchange Festival) in Seoul on Oct. 3, 2010. (Kyodo)

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Aoyama Festival in Tokyo

Members of the Akita Kanto Festival troupe hold poles decorated with paper lanterns during the Aoyama Festival parade in Tokyo on Nov. 11, 2018. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

A man balances a pole decorated with paper lanterns on his shoulder during the annual Kanto Festival in the northern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2017, the opening day of the four-day event. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like an ear of rice. Organizers expect some 1.32 million people to visit the city to see the festival. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

Men hold up poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual Kanto Festival in the northern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2017, the opening day of the four-day event. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like an ear of rice. Organizers expect some 1.32 million people to visit the city to see the festival. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Kanto Festival begins in Akita

Men hold up poles decorated with paper lanterns during the annual Kanto Festival in the northern Japanese city of Akita on Aug. 3, 2017, the opening day of the four-day event. The lanterns are arranged in a way so as to look like an ear of rice. Organizers expect some 1.32 million people to visit the city to see the festival. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo