Every July 17th in Kyoto, Japan, gorgeous floats are paraded downtown during the Gion Festival. The largest handful are called hoko and weigh about ten tons. The wooden undercarriage has no steering mechanism, so a brute force technique is required to turn corners. The front wheels are rolled onto bamboo slats which, when wet, are slippery enough to allow the pulling strength of two dozen men to move the front through a short arc. It usually take three such maneuvers to turn ninety degrees.