3. Castles
Matsue Castle, Festival, and Tea Culture by Two Great Matsue Lords

Amid the chants of ‘Horan Enya’, around 100 boats, adored with performers wearing colorful splendid costumes, sail through rivers between Lake Shinji and Nakaumi Lagoon in Matsue, the capital of Shimane prefecture. The Horan-Enya Festival is one of three major Shinto boat rituals in Japan, alongside the Tenjin Festival of Osaka Tenmangu Shrine and the […]

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7. Festivals
Takayama Festival (Spring and Autumn), Keep your eyes on Karakuri doll’s performance

In Spring, the Karakuri doll scatters a lot of cherry blossoms to commemorate the arrival of spring. In Autumn, one small Karakuri doll moves by hanging and moving across several bars one by one riding piggyback on the Hotei, who is known as a deity of good luck. People watch its success breathlessly. Once it […]

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