Etchuyatsuo parade float festival

Overview

The Etchu Yatsuo Hikiyama Festival is a spring festival held every year on May 3 in the Yatsuo district of Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture. It is known for the sight of six gorgeous hikiyama floats, decorated with lacquer, metal engraving, and carving, being pulled through the hilly streets of Yatsuo. Yatsuo is also famous nationwide as the home of the Owara Kaze no Bon, a dance festival with a plaintive air, but the spring hikiyama festival conveys a brightness and vigor contrasting with the subdued Owara, as a symbol of the merchant culture that flourished through sericulture and washi paper in the Edo period.

The sight of the heavy floats ascending and descending the distinctive terrain of Yatsuo, known as the "town of slopes," is full of power, and the floats lit by lanterns at night are also a major highlight. It is a representative spring rite of the Etchu region, concentrating the skills of artisans handed down since the Edo period and the spirit of the merchants who built their wealth.

History and Origins

The Etchu Yatsuo Hikiyama Festival is a float rite handed down since the Edo period. The Yatsuo of that time flourished greatly through the production of sericulture and washi paper, and served as the onandodokoro of the Toyama domain, an important base supporting the domain's finances. Enriched by the trade in silkworm eggs and Yatsuo washi, the merchants of Yatsuo poured their wealth and pride unstintingly into the floats, vying to create lavish hikiyama adorned with lacquer, metal engraving, and fine carving. The floats were the very symbol of a merchant culture at the height of its prosperity, and a means of displaying the town's strength.

The six floats are each owned by their respective neighborhoods and have been carefully maintained and repaired over many years. The floats are assembled without using a single nail, fixing the parts with wedges and hemp rope in a traditional technique. Each year for the festival, parts taken from the storehouses are faithfully assembled while preserving the ancient methods cultivated by predecessors. The assembly itself is skilled work, and this technique and spirit have been passed down across generations. On May 1, ahead of the main day, a trial pulling called the shirabebiki is held, in which the movement of the floats and the festival music are checked in preparation for the main event.

Highlights

The greatest highlight is the sight of the six floats, lavishly decorated with lacquer, metal engraving, and carving, being pulled through the hilly streets of Yatsuo. The sight of pullers working together to take the heavy floats up and down the slopes is full of power and offers a thrill unique to the town of slopes, found in no flatland festival. The carvings and metal fittings on the floats are masterworks of artisanship continuing from the Edo period, and their precision and splendor are overwhelming up close.

At night, many lanterns are lit on the floats, giving them an utterly different, dreamlike appearance from the daytime. The sight of the floats, illuminated by countless lights, slowly advancing through the darkening town of slopes is a beautiful scene symbolizing this festival. At the shirabebiki on May 1, each neighborhood pulls its float through the town, letting visitors savor an atmosphere much like the main event. The strains of festival music handed down from the Edo period are also an essential element, with flutes and drums resounding through the town to raise the festive mood.

Event Information and Access

The Etchu Yatsuo Hikiyama Festival is held every year on May 3 in the Yatsuo district of Toyama City, Toyama. On May 1, two days before, the trial pulling shirabebiki is held, announcing the opening of the festival. On the main day, the six floats process through the town, and the various parts of the town of slopes become the venue, bustling all day long.

The Yatsuo district lies southwest of central Toyama City, with Etchu-Yatsuo Station on the JR Takayama Main Line as the nearest station. Access from central Toyama is by rail or car, and traffic restrictions are in place in the town on the festival day, so use of public transport is recommended. Because of the hilly terrain, comfortable footwear is advisable when viewing the procession.

Nearby Attractions

Yatsuo is a town known nationwide for the Owara Kaze no Bon held in September, and beautiful streetscapes of stone-paved slopes and latticed house fronts remain. Even outside the festival season, there is the pleasure of strolling through the traditional streets of Yatsuo and savoring the atmosphere unique to the town of slopes. There are also facilities conveying its history as a washi-producing area, where visitors can encounter traditional crafts such as Yatsuo washi. Together with sightseeing in central Toyama and views of the Tateyama mountain range, one can fully savor the history and culture of Etchu.

Related Information

• Month held: May (May 3; shirabebiki on May 1)
• Prefecture: Toyama
• Location: Yatsuo district, Toyama City
• Type: spring float rite
• Floats: six (lacquer, metal engraving, carving; assembled without nails)
• Background: merchant culture that flourished through sericulture and washi in the Edo period; onandodokoro of the Toyama domain
• Related: the Owara Kaze no Bon held in September in the same Yatsuo district

← Explore More Festivals