Three deaths from float crushes raise safety concerns over Japanese festivals

There is mounting concern over the safety of Japan’s traditional festivals after the death of a senior local official who was reportedly crushed beneath a float at an event at the weekend, days after two men died in similar accidents in another part of the country.

Akihiro Nabae, the deputy mayor of Saijo in western Japan, was carrying a giant float with other participants in a festival on Saturday when he became trapped beneath the structure, Agence France-Presse reported. Nabae, 62, was taken to hospital and later pronounced dead, local media said, adding that no one else was injured.

His death comes less than two weeks after a 51-year-old man was crushed beneath a wooden float he was riding at one of the annual Danjiri festivals held in southern Osaka prefecture. The same day, a 48-year-old man was killed in a similar accident at a Danjiri event in a nearby town. Police said 16 people were injured in the incidents.

The accidents occurred when the floats, which can weigh up to four tonnes, toppled as they were being pulled at speed around tight corners by hundreds of men, police said. The turns, known as yarimawashi, are a highlight of the festivals, originally held to pray for good autumn harvests.

It is not clear if Nabae lost his balance or if the contraption toppled on to him, according to police in Saijo, where the festival has been held annually since the Edo period (1603-1868).

Media reports said 11 floats, each weighing as much as three tonnes, were lined up side by side at the time of the accident.

The annual Saijo festivals, featuring more than 100 floats, are held to thank Shinto deities for plentiful grain crops, the Jiji news agency said.

Saijo’s mayor, Mitsuyoshi Ochi, voiced shock and sadness at Nabae’s death. “Just when we were about to work together to build a new administration for Saijo, this tragedy occurred. I still can’t believe it. I offer my heartfelt condolences,” he said in a statement.

The recent deaths were not the only ones to have occurred at traditional festivals this year.

In February, two people died in a crush at the “naked man festival” in Okayama, where as many as 10,000 men dressed in fundoshi loincloths squeeze into the grounds of a temple and compete to seize a pair of sacred wooden sticks thrown into the crowd by the head priest. The two men who succeed are declared “lucky men” for the year.