Takayama, Japan - page 3

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This is the Takayama float museum.  Flash photography is prohibited, so some photos are a bit blurred, sorry.

The annual parade is an ancient tradition. It features these enormous hand-carried floats.

Each float comes from a different neighborhood competing for the glory of their district.

There are so many floats that the museum features only a rotating fraction of the total.

Can you imagine carrying one of these without tipping it over?

People come from all over Japan to watch the procession of the floats.

The grotesque faces on this one made it one of my favorites.

A closer view of one of the faces.

My favorite from another angle.

The museum has a small theater where you can watch and listen to a recording of one of these parades.

This was definitely one of the highlights of our visit.

There are stories associated with each float, but without a flash, I was not able to capture the signs.

An amazing tapestry on this one.

I tried for a close-up of the tapestry.

The sides had more tapestries.

A close-up.

This float is no longer carried because it is so heavy that it requires 80 people and of course, they must be of the same height, or the weight does not get distributed evenly. This was the only sign that I was able to photograph:

Near the float museum was a shelter, which I used because it was raining.  Under the roof were some paintings.

One of the wonderful things about Japan are these hidden treasures that are literally everywhere.

Here are close-ups of some of my favorites ...

Also near the float museum was an entire museum of models of the famous historical city of Nikko.

The lights in the model museum cycle from simulated daylight through twilight, nighttime and dawn.

It includes a model of a royal procession.


Close-up of the royal procession.

The detail on the models is incredible.

 

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