Inuyama City

Not content with being the site of Japan’s oldest (arguably most elegant) castle or being a staggeringly beautiful city, Inuyama hosts a particularly spellbinding festival every spring. The Inuyama festival is held annually on the first weekend of April and was begun under the orders of Owari clan retainer Hayatonosho Masatora Naruse in 1635 as a festival for Haritsuna Shrine, where the kami (god) of the city is enshrined. The festival begins in the early morning as thirteen festival floats are dragged from various points in town until they commune in the shrine’s yard. Inuyama Festival Floats While festival floats are not uncommon in Japan (called variously dashi, yatoi, hoko, danjiri, and here, yama), it is the sight of these three-tiered wooden structures set on the backdrop of Inuyama’s ancient streets as the cherry blossom flutters through the air that makes it an event so celebrated that it was designated as a National Important Intangible Folk cultural asset. Three stories tall, these magnificent floats are ornately carved and decorated, each in a different style. The yama are fixed axle vehicles. Given their immense weight, pulling them along the city streets is difficult, but how they handle corners makes for the…