Local Mini-Festival
Part of the fun of traveling in Japan is a chance encounter of a festival in progress. It wasn't in your research, it wasn't on your radar, but you arrive in a town, and there is clearly a festival happening.
Furano is having a mini-festival this week sponsored by the local Shinto shrine. The highlight for the kids is the typical festival booths lining the street. There is also a long parade that takes hours to complete because they march through every neighborhood in the city carrying a portable Shinto shrine, and stop in several locations for ceremonial prayer. Here are some pics of the parade as it moved through downtown.