Golden Week, a week of national holidays and festivals is just about to start here in Japan. So I decided to share a festival photo with you this week. Festivals occur all over Japan throughout the year, but really start to pick up during the spring and summer. This photo is from a festival called Hana Matsuri (Flower Festival) and is held in Shiogama, a city in Northern Japan. Hana Matsuri is actually one of the oldest festivals in Japan and the process has not been changed since it started.

Basically, in the weeks prior to the festival, men take place in a ritual to cleanse their soul and purify themselves so they can carry around a shrine. This shrine weighs about 1 ton! It is believed that for the one day of the festival, God will enter this shrine, so that is why they must purify themselves. The shrine is carried around the city starting and ending with Shiogama Shrine, where they carry the small heavy shrine up and down over 200 stairs!

This photograph was taken by Evan Pike. If you would like to see more photos of Hana Matsuri or buy this photograph, check out the gallery.