Long weight propels Japanese men to join log ride

April 11, 1998
Web posted at: 8:12 p.m. EDT (0012 GMT)

SUWA, Japan (CNN) -- A dangerous ride down a 90-meter (300-foot) slope -- while trying to balance on huge rolling tree trunks -- is a tradition for the men of Suwa during the Ombashira Festival.

About 55,000 spectators watched them plunge down the steep hillside on three, 7-ton logs Friday. Five more logs were being used Saturday and Sunday.

What's the reward for participants?

For some, it's a face streaked with dirt. But for others, the prize is a sense of pride.

Suwa, Japan - Ombashira Festival
	1.4MB / 40 sec. / 160x120 QuickTime movie

The daredevil log rides down the 40-degree slope are part of the three-day festival that is held every six years in Suwa, in the Nagano prefecture northwest of Tokyo. The event precedes the rebuilding of the nearby Shimo Suwa Shrine.

The logs are fashioned from fir trees, considered sacred in the Shinto faith. After the rides, the logs will be used as posts for the shrine. In the last festival, a man died after a tree trunk rolled over him.

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