It's a fact.

I don't see my boss at work anymore. He'll come in before & after events are run, drop stuff off/pick it up and get changed sometimes (those funboshi must get pretty sweaty...) and then disappear again to go to obligatory after parties and dinners and things. For the last couple of days of the festival, I don't think he will sleep.

Even if you're not actively following festivities though, if you're based in the Hakata area you will have seen stuff around, and not just the happi/funboshi clad dudes out on the buses or on their bikes. Here's some that I've noticed:

Water Buckets. They each actually belong to each Nagare, so other people aren't allowed to use them. Isn't that strict? 

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And the Bucket Collectors. Wherever the Kakiyama will run, each nagare is responsible for providing buckets for them in those streets. So people, or more specifically participants, can't use a different Nagare's bucket and water to spray their own team. These guys are from Nakasu.

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Laundry! All those wraparound underpants are out to dry, along with a family's worth of headbands and other paraphernalia.

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Shoes out to dry. Thankyou Mr. Bridgestone!

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The leaf and tree things that were put up at the start of the festival are getting dried out....

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Ahh, I hear the Taiko drums! It's nearly time to watch the Tenjin run.

Sometime later today I WILL have a series of photos from both runs for you, I promise! ...once I stop running around.