Chichibu Yomatsuri

Almost every Japanese festival happens between spring and autumn. Chichibu holds its own in December, at night, in the cold, and that is exactly why it is worth the trip. Six floats hung with lanterns are pulled through town, and the moment everyone waits for is Dangozaka, a short steep slope near the end. Getting a float weighing over ten tonnes up it takes hundreds of people pulling on ropes, and it is slow enough that you can watch the whole thing decide itself. Fireworks run above it while the hauling happens, which almost no summer festival does because the two would compete.