Takayama Spring Festival
TAKAYAMA SPRING FESTIVAL / SANNO MATSURI 14th & 15th April 2016
The Spring Festival is an annual festival of the Hie Jinja Shrine which was originally built in 1141. The people who live in the southern half of downtown Takayama worship at this shrine. The actual festival starts on March 1st, when the order of the procession of festival floats is decided. On April 14th, after the ritual ceremony at the shrine, a festival procession with hundreds of townspeople wearing traditional costumes begins. During the day time, all Spring Festival floats are pulled out, and the marionette performances are dedicated to the gods. In the evening, a night festival containing beautifully decorated floats proceeds through the town. People are fascinated by the beautiful breath-taking scenery. The next day is a highlight of the festival. Marionette performances on Ryujin-tai, Sanba-so, and Shakkyo-tai floats are executed, and the shrine’s main god, led by the festival procession, visits every household. A group of people in the procession play Shinto music, which is Japanese Imperial music; the other group carries a “Mikoshi”,or a portable shrine with a god in it. The long procession featuring traditional music and people in traditional costume takes us back to old Japan. The festival finishes with another ritual ceremony at the shrine. The ceremony is held in a solemn atmosphere.
| Karakuri Marionette Performance | ||
| Takayama has 25 floats, 12 for the Spring Festival, 11 for the Autumn Festival, and 2 for the others. Four floats, Ryujin-tai, Shakyo-tai, Sanba-so (Spring), and Hotei-tai (Autumn), have marionettes which are manipulated by means of strings which pass along a trough in the projecting arm. The marionettes are manipulated with strings by expert puppet masters. The movement of their arms, legs, head and body are so expertly manipulated that the marionettes almost seem to be alive. This marionette performance lasts approximately 20 minutes. The audience is glued to every movement of the marionettes, applauding almost continuously at the expert performance. This loud and sincere applause is for the highly artistic performance by the puppet masters who put life into a lifeless marionette. | ||
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| Night Festival | |
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In the evening of the first day, the festival floats are pulled through the streets of Takayama's old town for about two to three hours. The night festival (yomatsuri) is considered the festival's highlight by many visitors. In case of bad weather, the evening festival may have to be cancelled.
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Map of the Takayama Festival :
Back to our Takayama Spring Fesrival package links:
- Cherry Blossoms Takayama Spring Festival 14 Days
- Takayama Spring Festival 5 Days
