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Float
Festivals of Owari
The Owari region covering the
western part of Aichi is a treasure
house of dashi karakuri, or puppets
made for festival floats. The
floats (dashi) provide
a mobile stage upon which the
puppets (karakuri) perform,
astonishing and delighting spectators
while the floats are transported
around the town. Karakuri puppets
are of mechanical and marionette
types. The mechanical puppets
(hanare karakuri) operate
by means of springs, cogwheels,
and other such devices, and they
strike drums and gongs, stand
on their heads, and perform other
such stunts. The marionette puppets
(itokuri karakuri) operate
by means of strings, which are
deftly manipulated to make the
puppets express wide-ranging emotions
with a facility exceeding human
actors.
The roots of karakuri puppets
reach deep into Japanese history.
Mention of them can be found in
the Nihon shoki (720, Chronicle
of Japan) and Konjaku monogatari
(ca. 1120, Tales of Times Now
Past). The Owari region became
a center of the arts involved
in puppet shows, and this laid
the foundation for the development
of timepieces by artisans working
in the Owari Domain. Tsuda Sukezaemon,
who invented Japan’s first
mechanical clock in 1605, was
a native of Owari. Meanwhile,
Japanese puppet show techniques
were refined by theater groups
like Osaka’s Takedaza, and
midway through the Edo period
(1603–1868), when the place
of performance moved from the
stage to the festival float, the
tradition of dashi karakuri was
born.
Many Aichi communities still have
festivals featuring floats. One
is the Akiba Matsuri festival
in Komaki City, in which four
floats wend their way through
the streets from Shinmeisha Shrine,
built by the warlord Oda Nobunaga
(1534–82). The festivities
start on the third Saturday of
August, when the floats are decorated
with lanterns and paraded around
town in the evening. The main
event takes place on Sunday, with
the four floats appearing together
in the grounds of Shinmeisha Shrine
for performances by the puppets.
Even today the sight is one that
people long ago characterized
as “so astonishing you forget
to close your eyes.”
(Tsutomu Higashida;
photo by Masatoshi Sakamoto) |
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Aichi
Prefecture is located roughly in the middle of the Japanese
archipelago and is the nation's top industrial prefecture, being the
home of Toyota Motor Corp. and other leading-edge manufacturers. It
also has a rich history and cultural tradition that continue to enrich
the lives of residents today. A number of large-scale projects are
planned to lead the prefecture into the twenty-first century, including
the 2005 World Exposition and a new international airport.
AICHI VOICE is a colorful
English-language publication issued by the
Aichi
International Association, a nonprofit
organization established by the Aichi Prefectural
Government, to introduce Aichi's proud traditions
and latest trends to a worldwide audience.
This Website contains the magazine's contents in electronic form
to give everyone with Internet access a chance to learn more about
our prefecture.
We welcome your comments. Please send them using the message
box.
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To
be updated in November 2004
All Rights Reserved Copyright 1998 Aichi
International Association
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