The event “Kamihinokinai no kamifuusenage was held as usual in Kamihinokinai, Semboku city, Akita, Japan in February 10, 2019.
*pronunciation:
!Kamihinokinai(上桧木内=Place name)
ka=kangaroo’s “ka” , mi=me , hi=he , no=No(denial) , ki=key , na=nap’s “na” , i=if’s “i”
!kamifuusenage(kami=紙=paper, fuusen=風船=balloon, age=上げ=up))
ka=kangaroo’s “ka” , mi=me , fu=fū=who , se=sé=September’s “se” , n=Anne’s “n” ,
a=apple’s “a” , ge=gé=gaze’s “ge”
Akita is in the north of Japan, and Kamihinokinai is area of heavy snowfall.
The event is designated as Semboku city intangible folk cultural properties.
People fly about 100 hot paper balloon in the sky in this event. The size of the hot paper balloons is various, but the biggest one is over 12 meters.
The origin of the event is unknown.
However, some people say a hot paper balloon play taught by Gennai(Gen-nai) Hiraga who visited this place in 1773 is the origin. By the way, Gennai Hiraga was born in 1728 and a Japanese famous botanist, doctor, inventor, painter, etc. And a festival of New years was combined with this play.
The origin is not clear, but it is true that it is also celebrated the New Year festival.
So, on some paper balloons, people write their prayers . For example, No Sickness, Grain richness. Also, some balloons have portraits of Samurai, beautiful women, etc.
This event has a history of about 250 years. For a while, it was interrupted due to the Pacific War. However, it was resumed by enthusiastic volunteers in 1974.
It is very fantastic to see the hot paper balloon soaring to the night sky.
Sometimes the scene is called “Winter Firefly”
↓The left is a portrait of a beautiful woman.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Btr58C8FArW/
↓portrait of a Samurai.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bts1gtmlixu/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BttGvylgZaA/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtujDM_FDMR/