Hurry, hurry, step right up, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Right this way. The circus has come to town!
Nestled beneath a billowing crimson big top, the Kinoshita Circus features a dizzying array of acts -- acrobats, tight-rope walkers, trapeze artists, magicians, clowns, daredevil motorcyclists and animal trainers who work with lions, tigers, zebras and giraffes. It's the circus you dreamed of running away to join when you were a child.
This year marks the 101st year of performance for the Kinoshita Circus, founded by Tadasuke Kinoshita in 1902 and managed today by its third president, Mitsunori Kinoshita. And if the acts haven't changed all that much over time, neither has the show's popularity diminished -- the show now attracts an average of 1.5 million people annually.