I've just spent four days in Takayama, for the bi-annual, two day festival. It was really wonderful. Eleven, three hundred year old floats are lined up to be viewed by the public and there are thousands of visitors who flock to the city to experience the celebrations. The floats are very tall, grand and elaborately decorated carts that sit on four wheels. Mainly made from wood with a black lacquer and highly polished. They are really breath taking, covered in gold leaf and in-layed with mother of pearl and more gold. And that's just the wheels!
Wooden carvings adorn the main body of the floats, some are bright, colourful and have been painted. Others carvings left to show the grain of the wood. These intricate carvings depict rabbits, tiger's, dragons and plants. Heavily embroidered fabrics, basically a tapestry, hang to conceal musicians and puppeteers within the floats. The puppets made from painted wood sit at the very top of the structure (floats) and must have been m…
