Danjiri Festival begins under COVID-19 restriction

Oct 12, 2020 | News On Japan

Oct 12, 2020 (NHK) - A main event of a long-running festival usually held in western Japan has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Danjiri Festival features men in happi coats hauling large wooden carts resembling shrines called "danjiri" through the narrow streets of the city of Kishiwada in Osaka Prefecture.

The tradition stretches back over 300 years. But the main event has been canceled this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, as it would likely draw large crowds.

Only related shinto rituals took place. Float event managers received paper decorations bearing the chief priest's prayer for good harvest at a local shrine.

Then local people decorated the floats with the paper as usual. Local residents played Japanese drums and flutes to create a festive mood.

City officials say the last time the main event was cancelled was in 1945, immediately after World War Two.

A float event manager said the festival cheers up the local people. He said it is disappointing that the float event was cancelled, but that he was happy to have taken part in the shinto rituals.

Typhoons No. 28 and 29 Bring High Waves to Japan's Pacific Coast

Two typhoons moving across the Pacific southeast of Japan are expected to remain well away from the Japanese mainland, but powerful swells could bring rough seas to a wide stretch of the country's Pacific coastline throughout the three-day holiday weekend, according to forecasts updated at 3 a.m. on October 10.

Cyberattacks Spread Across Japan

A series of cyberattacks has disrupted business operations and exposed millions of customer records across Japan, with a ransomware attack on a cloud service provider affecting 495 companies and local governments nationwide, while convenience store operator Lawson has disclosed a separate breach involving more than 2.15 million personal information records.

Japan's First 360-Degree Projection Mapping Opens in Osaka

Japan's first 360-degree projection mapping show will open at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts on October 10, transforming the historic building into an immersive world of light, music, and seasonal imagery, with organizers hoping the attraction will also help stimulate the city's nighttime economy.

Tokyo University Professor Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tokyo University of Science professor emeritus Kenzo Soai has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with French chemist Henri B. Kagan for discoveries that transformed scientists' understanding of how chemical reactions can favor one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.

US Military Halts All Okinawa Operations for 48 Hours

The US military suspended activities by all forces stationed in Okinawa for 48 hours from noon on October 7, an unusual measure following the arrest of a US Marine in connection with a robbery and murder case that has renewed scrutiny of crimes involving American service members.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Most Sightings of Fugitive Yoichi Hatta Reported in Kanto

Police in Oita Prefecture have revealed that the Kanto region accounts for the largest number of reported sightings of Yoichi Hatta, a fugitive wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident in Beppu in 2022, with authorities preparing to distribute new wanted posters nationwide from November as the search enters its fifth year.