Man with lantern. Every October, the town of Hamaoka sponsors a two-day Fall Festival, known as "Aki Matsuri." Many Japanese towns have similar festivals in October at harvest time. Traditionally, the harvests are accompanied by an offer of sake to the gods to ensure a fruitful harvest. The Hamaoka matsuri is well known in the region for being two days of unbridled, drunken revelry. Nearly every person in the town participates in the festivities as the streets become saturated with beer and sake. At left, a festival participant lights a candle inside a paper lantern or "matsuri chohchin." October, 1998.