Japan’s traditional festivals face money problems

Japan Times: Traditional local festivals are having a more difficult time securing finances to cover event costs.
In the western city of Tokushima, the “Awa Odori” traditional local folk dance festival saw record-low visitor numbers this year, partly due to the fallout from confusion which resulted from financing difficulties.
“We’ve managed to generate profits,” said Taku Okuno, an organizing committee official of the Yosakoi Soran Festival in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.
While festival costs, including for security, are on the rise because of the increasing scale of the events, the organizer has not received public subsidies.
The organizer is struggling to secure funds for the early summer festival, with the sponsoring companies changing almost every year. “Although we don’t aim to make profits, we’re fighting every year,” Okuno said.
The situation is similar for Nagasaki Kunchi, a festival lasting nearly 400 years as a ritual of Suwa Shrine, a Shinto shrine in the southwestern city of Nagasaki. Each city district needs to secure some 30 million yen every year for the festival to cover the costs for floats and other items used in dedicatory dance by shrine parishioners.