Kids hold a spear, a gun, or a bow in their hands. One of the most popular performance is the kid in charge hauls a small umbrella over the high Torii gate, then he passes quickly under the gate to catch the falling umbrella. The procession arrived at the main Torii gate of Kaku shrine after marching one kilometer in two hours. The spectators moved to the gate as well. The lanterns are coverd with vinyle sheet to protect them form the occasional rain.
Some kids sit on the shoulders of the fathers, others are on the back of the mothers.
Next time's festival will be held after six years. We saw the Daimyo's Procession some 24 years ago when our son barely became the fourth grade of an elementary school. We call back the good old memory. Soon a firework broke out on the riverbed of Oita river. Brilliant chrysanthemum flowers sparkles and flows in the night sky.