One man died earlier in May during the ancient two month festival that is held once every six years
INCREDIBLE video footage shows the heart-stopping moment that men risk their lives by hurtling down hill on heavy tree trunks.
The speedy ritual is part of the ancient Onbashira Festival in Japan.
The Sacred Pillars ritual has been held every six years for the last 1,200 years in the central Suwa region.
As part of the long tradition, Japanese men speed down a steep hill astride a massive tree trunk.
In a local ceremony known as ‘kiotoshi’, the men have to try and cling on to the logs as they steam down the steep hill.
The men have thick ropes to hang on to, but many are not strong enough to hold on.
The dangerous event has been captured in an incredible video, which shows the ritual and tradition behind the festival.
Large groups wear bright colours and chant as the tree trunks are decorated in small flags which flutter in the wind.
The festival also includes the felling of the huge trunks, which are then dragged through the town towards the river.
At the front of the massive logs sit dozens of brightly dressed people, waving flags in unison.
They are greeted by the colourful spectators, who sing and chant as they near the water.
The logs are slowly pushed further and further off the pier until they crash into the water.
The festival, which lasts two months, is rooted in Shintoism, one of Japan’s most popular religions.
Priests are use the tree trunks to honour the gods of wind, water and crops.
The tree trunks felled during the festival are meant to replace the sacred pillars at the Shinto shrine in Suwa.
But the ancient tradition has proved deadly in the past.
Earlier in May, a man died after falling off a tree onto machinery.
Yukihiro Kusakabe, 41, fell from the tree in Nagano Prefecture and perished as he was not wearing a safety harness.
Two men also died in the festival in 2010, according to the Telegraph.
The dangerous nature of the festival has meant that new health and safety checks have started to appear.
It is thought that Kusakabe was supposed to wear a safety harness while on top of the tree.
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