Uploaded November 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
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A video of a gondolier jumping out of their boat and over the bridge!:
youtube.com/watch?v=QdrvWP5WldE
The canals of Kurashiki: youtu.be/crEB7ti7vF8
Japan's most exciting festival!: youtu.be/yphwiiFMKh8
FOLLOW ME! (^_^):
*On Twitter: @SonnieTravels
*On Instagram: @SonnieTravels
This fiesta began in 1978 and became an international festival in 1984. Since that year, about 640 balloons from around the world have taken part in it.
Balloons take part in a competition to see which team can get closest to a target.
These fun shaped balloons are here to take part in the Balloon Fantasia. These adorable balloons were probably my favourite part of this festival. Which one is your favourite? The Up Balloon was pretty amazing, but mine had to be the big octopus balloon.
Anytime there’s an outdoor event in Japan or Korea, people tend to bring tents to hang out in and catch a break from the sun.
If you stay into the night, they fill the balloons up again and the you get to see a whole different side of them as they glow from the flames.
There was a huge whale that they floated low to the ground for the kids to play with. I noticed the guy in charge of the tail kept bobbing the kids on the head with it and laughing.
Yanagawa is known as the Venice of Fukuoka.
These boats are called, “donkobune”.
These canals were originally built for irrigation purposes, but later they were used for military purposes.
The songs these gondoliers were singing were songs made from poems by Kitahara Hakushu a local, Meiji era poet from Yanagawa.
Many of the bridges were too low to push the boat through, so under each bridge was a system to help pull the boats. And sometimes we got to help pull the boat along. When the water levels are too high, some of the gondoliers will actually jump from the boat, run over the bridge, and jump back into the boat once on the other side. It would’ve been cool to see that in person. But there are some videos you can see of it here on youtube.
After a delicious eel dinner (which is famous is Yanagawa), it was beginning to get dark and the lanterns we had seen throughout the day started to light up.
This festival is called the Hakushu Festival.
The boats would pass by or stop at different traditional performances on their way down the canal.
About 1,500 people in over 100 boats ride for 2 and a half hours along these canals, while eating and drinking.
There was an incredible sense of community here during this festival and it’s no surprise that people start booking these boats a year in advanced! The people who live along the canal, decorated their balconies with lights or were outside shouting greetings and lighting up sparklers. Other locals gathered on bridges or in areas facing the boat routes and waved enthusiastically to passersby.
SUPPORT ME! (^_^): patreon.com/sonnietravels Related Videos:
A video of a gondolier jumping out of their boat and over the bridge!:
youtube.com/watch?v=QdrvWP5WldE
The canals of Kurashiki: youtu.be/crEB7ti7vF8
Japan's most exciting festival!: youtu.be/yphwiiFMKh8
FOLLOW ME! (^_^):
*On Twitter: @SonnieTravels
*On Instagram: @SonnieTravels
This fiesta began in 1978 and became an international festival in 1984. Since that year, about 640 balloons from around the world have taken part in it.
Balloons take part in a competition to see which team can get closest to a target.
These fun shaped balloons are here to take part in the Balloon Fantasia. These adorable balloons were probably my favourite part of this festival. Which one is your favourite? The Up Balloon was pretty amazing, but mine had to be the big octopus balloon.
Anytime there’s an outdoor event in Japan or Korea, people tend to bring tents to hang out in and catch a break from the sun.
If you stay into the night, they fill the balloons up again and the you get to see a whole different side of them as they glow from the flames.
There was a huge whale that they floated low to the ground for the kids to play with. I noticed the guy in charge of the tail kept bobbing the kids on the head with it and laughing.
Yanagawa is known as the Venice of Fukuoka.
These boats are called, “donkobune”.
These canals were originally built for irrigation purposes, but later they were used for military purposes.
The songs these gondoliers were singing were songs made from poems by Kitahara Hakushu a local, Meiji era poet from Yanagawa.
Many of the bridges were too low to push the boat through, so under each bridge was a system to help pull the boats. And sometimes we got to help pull the boat along. When the water levels are too high, some of the gondoliers will actually jump from the boat, run over the bridge, and jump back into the boat once on the other side. It would’ve been cool to see that in person. But there are some videos you can see of it here on youtube.
After a delicious eel dinner (which is famous is Yanagawa), it was beginning to get dark and the lanterns we had seen throughout the day started to light up.
This festival is called the Hakushu Festival.
The boats would pass by or stop at different traditional performances on their way down the canal.
About 1,500 people in over 100 boats ride for 2 and a half hours along these canals, while eating and drinking.
There was an incredible sense of community here during this festival and it’s no surprise that people start booking these boats a year in advanced! The people who live along the canal, decorated their balconies with lights or were outside shouting greetings and lighting up sparklers. Other locals gathered on bridges or in areas facing the boat routes and waved enthusiastically to passersby.
