Riding Giant Logs in Japan’s Dangerous 1,200-Year-Old Festival | Short Film Showcase

Every six years the Suwa area in central Nagano celebrates the Onbashira Festival. Onbashira, which translates to “the honorable pillars,“ attracts thousands of people each year who participate in moving 16 massive fir tree trunks from the mountains to the shrines of Suwa. To reach the shrines, the trunks are pulled with ropes and ridden down steep hills, through a river and across the streets, in the 1,200-year-old festival. Oh! Matsuri captures this exhilarating procession in which we see the trunks’ trek to replace the sacred pillars at the four shrines and stand, in honor, for the following six years. Oh! Matsuri: ➡ Subscribe: ➡ Get More Short Film Showcase: About Short Film Showcase: A curated collection of the most captivating documentary shorts from filmmakers around the world. See more from National Geographic’s Short Film Showcase at Get More National Geographic: Official Site: http://bit