At 4:59 in the morning on July 15, the streets of Hakata erupt. Seven teams — called nagare, each representing a district of the city — carry enormous floats through the darkness at a full sprint. The floats stand fifteen meters tall and weigh over a ton. The race covers five kilometers and is over in roughly thirty minutes. The festival traces its origin to 1241, when a Buddhist monk named Shoichi Kokushi rode through the streets of plague-stricken Hakata on a makeshift float, scattering holy water to drive out the epidemic. What began as an act of desperation became an annual ritual, and then a way of life. The full festival runs from July 1 to 15. The first two weeks are for the kazariyama — enormous decorative floats displayed at fourteen locations around the city, each a work of art in its own right. Then, on July 10, the kakiyama — the floats meant to be carried — emerge, and the city shifts into a different register entirely. Only men may participate as runners. Women watch. Tourists watch. Everyone is pulled into the heat of it. A UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.