🏮 Chiryu Matsuri
知立まつり
Chiryu, Aichi (Chiryu Shrine) · Two days, 2–3 May
230 days to go
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Chiryu Matsuri is a festival of Chiryu Shrine in Chiryu City, Aichi Prefecture, held every year on May 2 and 3. It appears in the 1653 Chiryu Nakamachi Saireicho, and is said to have originated when four towns presented karakuri (mechanical puppetry) to Chiryu Shrine. Its distinguishing feature is the alternation between the Honmatsuri and the Aematsuri, held in alternate years. At the Honmatsuri (even-numbered years), five dashi (festival floats), each 7 meters tall and weighing 5 tons, are brought out from the five towns of Nishimachi, Takaramachi, Yamamachi, Nakashimmachi, and Honmachi. On the upper level of the floats, ningyo joruri puppet theater known as dashi bunraku is performed, while on the lower level dashi karakuri is performed; performing two different puppet plays on the upper and lower levels of the same float is a rare form found only in Chiryu. These are designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan, and are also registered as one of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage "Yama, Hoko, Yatai events." Bunraku on the floats began in 1747. The karakuri puppets are not made by specialist craftsmen; people within each town hand-make everything but the heads, and each town preserves and transmits the technique of manipulating the puppets with strings. Successors are being trained, including through the bunraku club at Chiryu Municipal Ryuhoku Junior High School.
Getting there
About 10 minutes on foot from Chiryu Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line. About 5 km from the Toyota-Minami Interchange on the Isewangan Expressway via National Route 155.
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