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National Geographic brings us this video of the 1,200 year-old Onbashira Festival.
“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.
The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors. We look for work that affirms National Geographic’s belief in the power of science, exploration, and storytelling to change the world. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of National Geographic Partners.”