You know that when you look at the Pink Gnome section, it is going to be "a bit different". Well, this certainly falls into that catagory.
Onbashira Matsuri at Suwataisha (Suwa shrine) in Nagano, Japan, is a festival that is held every six years. This festival is one of the most amazing spectacles around. This is when religion becomes an extreme sport!
"Onbashira" is a large fir tree which is about 40 feet long, 3.5 feet across and weighs in at almost 2 tons!! At the festival, four "Onbashira" are cut down and dragged from Mt.Okuyama and made to stand on the four corners of the Suwataisha's foundation. This may not sound that exciting until you find out this is all done by hand!
To make things more fun, these four onbashira are slid down a 30-degree hillside whilst locals, (Ujiko), try to sit onboard and ride this giant and uncontrolable "log ride"!!
Bones are broken and egos flatteened, but it doesn't put people off! The last "log ride" took place in May 2005. Make sure you've got your ticket for the next one! | 
