Hitachi Furyumono

The Hitachi Furyumono (日立風流物) is a parade in Hitachi city, Japan.[1] It is held during Hitachi Sakura Matsuri (日立さくらまつり), the annual cherry blossom festival in April, and the Great Festival at the local Kamine Shrine once in every seven years in May.[1][2] It is inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists as a part of "Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan", 33 traditional Japan festivals.[3][4]

Omote-yama (表山), the festival float of Hitachi Furyumono

Parade

Furyumono is a puppet show performed onstage on the floats.[5] Each of four local communities - Kita-machi (北町), Higashi-machi (東町), Nishi-machi (西町) and Moto-machi (元町) - has their own float.[1] During the annual festival, one community presents its parade float each year.[1] During the Great Festival at Kamine Shrine, the four communities compete for the most skilled puppeteers and the best hospitality to the local deity.[1]

The floats are five tons in weight, 15 meters in height, and from 3 to 8 meters in width.[6] Each of them has a five-storied stage, and on each stage puppets play a scene of one story respectively.[5]

Each puppet is controlled by three to five puppeteers manipulating the ropes.[1]

History

The origin of the parade goes back to 1695.[5] According to Kamine Shrine, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the second lord of Mito Domain, appointed Kamine Shrine as the Sou-Chinju, the local tutelary shrine.[7] People held religious festivals and dedicated floats to the shrine.[5]

In the early 18th century, a puppet show began supposedly imitating Ningyō jōruri, the puppet theater with chanted narration that was very popular in Edo and Osaka area at that time.[5]

In 1945, most of the floats were lost in the war disasters, but Furyumono was restored in 1958.[5] In addition, the existing float was registered as the Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property in 1959.[8]

In 1977, Furyumono was registered as the Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.[6]

In 2009, it was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists with the Yamahoko parade of Gion Matsuri.[4]　In 2016, these two parades and 31 traditional festivals were registered on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists[4] as "Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan", the representative examples showing the diversity of Japan local cultures.[3]

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References
  1. "Hitachi Furyumono". Intangible heritage. UNESCO. 2008. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  2. "風流物、無形文化遺産に登録　日立で歓喜再び「伝統守る励みに」　茨城". Sankei News (in Japanese). Sankei Shinbun. 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  3. "Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan". UNESCO. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  4. "UNESCO panel recommends adding 33 Japan festivals to heritage list". the Japan Times. 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  5. Hyotan Editors Club, ed. (2005), Hyotan No.158 (PDF), Hitachi International Committee, retrieved 2018-06-29
  6. "日立風流物" [Hitachi Furyumono]. 文化遺産オンライン [Cultural Heritage Online]. 無形民俗文化財 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  7. "大祭禮". Kamine Shrine's official Site (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  8. "日立風流物" [Hitachi Furyumono]. 文化遺産オンライン [Cultural Heritage Online]. 有形民俗文化財 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 2018-06-28.

Further reading
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