At three in the morning, the drumming starts. Bare-chested men carry a massive drum through the streets of Furukawa, waking the town and anyone who has stayed to watch. This is Okoshi Daiko — the rousing drum — and it is the opposite of subtle. The Hida Furukawa Festival is often paired with the more famous Takayama Festival as the region's twin spring ceremonies. But where Takayama is stately, Furukawa is raw. The energy doesn't wait for morning.