Kanuma lmamiya Shrine Festival

The Kanuma Imamiya Shrine Festival float event is a festival held every October at Imamiya Shrine in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture. With around 400 years of history and origins said to date to 1608, it is known for the ornate floats adorned with intricate carvings that process through the town, and is registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The festival's greatest distinction is the magnificent and ornate floats called "carved floats" (chōkoku yatai). Kanuma has flourished as a town of woodworking and carving since the Edo period, and that high level of skill was lavishly poured into the floats. Intricate, three-dimensional carvings shaped after dragons, lions, flowers, and birds cover the entire surface of the floats—some left as plain wood, others in brilliant colors—each boasting a beauty like a work of art. Around thirty carved floats survive, and many appear at the festival.

At the festival, the carved floats of the various neighborhoods parade through the town while engaging in spirited musical contests called "buttsuke." The sight of floats facing one another and competing by striking up their music against each other is the moment when the festival's fervor reaches its peak. Bringing together the essence of the craftsmanship of which the woodworking town of Kanuma is proud, this festival is a precious folk culture recognized worldwide as a splendid celebration representative of autumn in Tochigi Prefecture and as the essence of Japan's float-carving culture.