Donden or Shagiri or Yarimawashi or Tomemawashi or Kamiage or...

Meaning: Change in direction....
Explanation and the way of turning is diffrent depending on the festival.

It is a quite spectacle performance to turn a huge float at corners or in front of the main shrine
90 or in multiples of 360 degrees.
The heavier the float, men excite and unite their strength to turn it.
(The floats of gion Feival in Kyoto/12ton, Owari Yokosuka festival/5ton, etc.)

The float has rigid axle and no power steering.
As you see in the photos below, the wheels are made of wood and can be driven forward or backward.
So, difficult and tough turns are directed by the call of the leaders,
Men who participate float festivals receive generous applause.

photo: courtesy of Yoshik

photo: courtesy of Yoshik	photo: courtesy of Yoshik

photo: courtesy of Yoshik	photo: courtesy of Yoshik

Tsushima style Shagiri Men lift up the front wheels and let the float turn on one rear wheel, like rotating the compass. They turn round many times. so you see a circle on the ground . Then you will find a hole in the center of the circl. The worker of the engineering bureau plug up the holes on the following day.