The floats are known in Nanao city as “tower lantern floats(Hōtō),” but in other parts of Noto there are many festivals dedicated to these “faceted paper lanterns(Kiriko)”

Ishizaki has long flourished as a fishing town, and the Issaki Hachiman Shrine Festival celebrates the local guardian deity. Long ago they featured portable shrines, but eventually, those were lost to frequent fires during the Meiji era.

During the winter, when they are unable to go fishing, Ishizaki fishermen would work away from home at the Ushitsu Harbor in the town of Noto, mending nets and the like. Festivals were held in those days where faceted lanterns ten meters tall were shown. However, in 1914 a float became tangled in a power line, causing such towering lantern floats to fall out of use. One of them was given to Ishizaki town, whose portable shrines had burned in fires. Beset by constant fires, Ishizaki placed their prayers for relief into these tower lantern floats.
Ishizaki is full of spirited and competitive fishermen. The different councils compete among themselves and push the size of these lantern floats ever higher. Moreover, the size limitations relaxed with the advent of electric lights during the early Taisho Period, as power lines were raised so that they would not obstruct their course.

As a fishing town, the catch of any given day depends on the ebb and flow of the tides, so Ishizaki employed the lunar calendar for a long time. The Issaki Hōtō Festival took place on June 15th, a full-moon night by the lunar calendar. However, since the date would change every year, it became difficult to secure people to pull the giant floats. And from 1996 onwards, it came to be held on the first Saturday of August every year.

The seven Ishizaki councils that display tower lantern floats are the First through Fourth Block Councils in the east, and the First through Third Block Councils in the west. Together they flash the town’s colors in friendly competition. In the past the float pullers wore white pants. Then in 1958 the councils started wearing colors to match the headbands worn during the athletic festivals of the time.

The tower lantern on display here was shouldered by Ishizaki’s Western Second Block Council in 2019, and is the first remodel of this float in 35 years. For 2020 they will be carrying a new float, the color of which is as of yet undecided. The Council members wear pink shorts with cherry crests on them. The phrase “manshō-un” is emblazoned on the float. The Council picks the phrase for the floats, sometimes picking from many as three kinds of characters. The phrase “manshō-un” means “joyous clouds”; fish scurry away from the water’s surface on bright moonlit nights. On those nights, cloud coverage is a blessed omen that potentially portends a big catch. On the back face is painted an image of a hermit riding a huge koi carp. This image also serves as a prayer for good fishing.

Around the tower lantern floats, tulip-esque paper lanterns called “roppō”. They’re painted in the colors of the different block councils, and each year they are newly redesigned. Four “hannawa ropes” hang from the top of the lantern tower and are pulled by four men at the bottom, to keep the float balanced lest the roof begins to sway like a pendulum.

The tower lantern floats measure 12 to 13 meter in height and weigh around 2 tons. They are carried by around 100 people at once. Lifting such a heavy float alone requires great control. How do they manage to arrange and keep it all together? We certainly want you to experience it.