Dashi: wheeled floats
This festival parade originates at the Hikawa Jinja (shrine) in Akasaka. It features five dashi (wheeled floats) equipped with ingenious mechanisms which allow their displays to be raised as high as seven meters above the ground.
The dashi were originally built during the Edo Period more than 150 years
ago, and it is thought that the raising mechanisms were originally designed to allow them to pass under the gates of Edo Castle, to be viewed there by the Shogun himself.
Ohayashi: traditional band
Since then, the dashi have undergone many repairs and modifications.
Each dashi carries a traditional band with fue (Japanese flutes) and taiko (drums). The live traditional music performance further invigorates the spirit of the Festival.
Omikoshi: portable shrine
There is also an omikoshi or portable shrine. Once a year, local residents carry the heavy omikoshi on their shoulders around their neighborhood. It is said that the kami-sama (god or spirit), who resides at the shrine, rides on the omikoshi to survey his precincts, observe the activities of the locals, and purify the area.
