The Onbashira Festival
Why do people risk their lives riding a huge log down a steep hill? "Tradition," say the Japanese. The Onbashira Festival is one of the strangest, and most dangerous, festivals in Japan. It has been held ever six years for 1,200 years.
As part of each fest, four shrine buildings rebuilt at Suwa City, near Nagano.
The "Onbashira" is an enormous fir tree measuring 17 meters or more in length, 1 meter in diameter, and weighing up to 12 or 13 tons.
During the festival, four such tree and cut down in the forest. Men drag the logs up a steep slope while they sing the traditional songs. When they reach the top of the hill, they tie the log with ropes and prepare for the ride down. The ropes are cut, and the log travels down the hill at tremendous speed as the participants try desperately to hang on. This is the most thrilling part of the festival, and sometimes people who try to ride the "Onbashira" are injured by the heavy trees. However, the last man to stay on the tree is a hero.
It takes three days to finally move the trucks the distance of six miles to the site of the four shrines. When the "Obashira" finally reach their destination, they are raised as pillars in the shrines.