While my posts have admittedly fallen by the wayside due to studying Japanese and exploring Nagasaki taking up a decent amount of my time, I am glad to be back to discussing everything I've experienced so far during my time studying abroad.
As I've discussed before, Japan has a rich and ancient culture, and this extends to elaborate festivals that can last for several days and are usually associated with a local major temple and a local guardian deity. For example, in Nagasaki there is a festival called 長崎くんち or Nagasaki Kunichi, which is usually held once a year in early October and has the districts of Nagasaki routinely participating with their own unique performances. It also enjoys the title of being Nagasaki's most famous festival.
A Small Float Being Moved Toward the Nearby Temple
From what I could gather, each float from a certain district were all unique in their appearance and overall structure and the floats are also used to reinforce a sense of community among the districts. Some were wider and were dragged along like the one shown in the video, and others were more vertical in their design, like the one pictured below in which a person is directly under the float carrying it along while being guided by attendants.
A Small Float Being Carried Down the Street
However, the most important float at the festival was the 神輿 or mikoshi which is a highly decorated float that is said to house the local deity while it is moved between the main temple and a temporary temple during the festival. I also noticed that volunteers who carry the mikoshi stop at certain points to allow the onlookers to pray to the deity and make offerings, usually through monetary means, for good luck. This can be somewhat seen in the photo below.
The Nagasaki Mikoshi Float
The mikoshi seemed to have been paraded throughout the majority of downtown Nagaski before finally being returned to the main temple, in which the volunteers carrying the float are meant to sprint up the stairs leading to the deity's home. It did somewhat remind me a lot of the festivals and fairs back home, mainly because of the amount of food stalls and trucks they had on display along with a few side activities that were set up to complement the festival, such as a hot air balloon that I'm assuming was used to give a better view of the mikoshi and its entourage of accompanying floats since it didn't really go too high for a balloon of its size. Overall, I would highly recommend visiting Nagasaki Kunichi if you're ever studying abroad or simply vacationing in Nagasaki. The entire festival makes Nagasaki feel as though it's in a state of constant celebration, at least for a few days, with everyone enjoying the same spectacle. I can understand if people don't enjoy crowds, especially since everyone is off from school and work during this period, but it's a truly special thing to experience for the first time and I believe that you should attend and see what it's like for at least one of the days if you ever come to Nagasaki during the festival.