Growing concern surrounds the safety of traditional Japanese festivals following the death of a senior local official who was reportedly crushed beneath a float over the weekend. The incident occurred just days after two men died in similar accidents in another part of the country.
Akihiro Nabae, the 62-year-old deputy mayor of Saijo in western Japan, was participating in a festival on Saturday when he became trapped under a giant structure while carrying it alongside other participants. Local media reported that Nabae was transported to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead, while no other injuries were reported from that incident.
The fatality came less than two weeks after a 51-year-old man was crushed beneath a wooden float he was riding during an annual Danjiri festival in the southern Osaka prefecture. On the exact same day, a 48-year-old man suffered a fatal accident under similar circumstances at a Danjiri event in a nearby town, with police noting that 16 additional people sustained injuries across those incidents.
Authorities explained that the accidents happened when heavy floats, weighing up to four tonnes, toppled over while being pulled at high speeds around sharp corners by hundreds of participants. Known as yarimawashi, these rapid turns serve as a major highlight of the festivals, which were originally established to pray for successful autumn harvests.
Police in Saijo stated that it remains unclear whether Nabae lost his balance or if the heavy contraption tipped over onto him. The Saijo festival has a long history, having been held annually since the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
According to the Jiji news agency, the annual Saijo events feature more than 100 floats and are dedicated to thanking Shinto deities for plentiful grain crops. Media reports indicated that 11 floats, each weighing as much as three tonnes, were arranged side by side when the recent accident took place.
Mitsuyoshi Ochi, the mayor of Saijo, expressed deep shock and sorrow regarding Nabae's passing. In a public statement, Ochi noted that the tragedy struck just as they were preparing to collaborate on a new administration for the city, adding that he still found the event hard to believe and offered his sincere condolences.
These recent fatalities are part of a broader pattern of deadly incidents at traditional events throughout the year. In February, two individuals died in a crowd crush during the naked man festival in Okayama, an event where approximately 10,000 men wearing traditional loincloths crowd into temple grounds to compete for sacred wooden sticks thrown by a head priest.