Sawara Float Museum (Suigō Sawara Dashi Kaikan)

photo by katorisi · CC BY 2.5

photo by katorisi · CC BY 2.5

It displays the actual seven-metre-tall floats of the Sawara festival, inside Yasaka Shrine.

In Yasaka Shrine, the museum displays in rotation the carved floats used in the ‘Sawara no Taisai’, each about seven metres tall and topped by large wooden figures made by craftsmen of the late Edo and Meiji periods. On the upper floor you can see up close the instruments of the ‘Sawara-bayashi’ band and the carvings of the floats; on the floor above that, you come face to face with the large life-size figures.

The museum was created to preserve and show all year round the floats of the Sawara no Taisai, the float festival recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and as a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

ℹ️ Open 9:00–16:30 (until 20:30 during the summer festival), closed on Mondays (open on public holidays and during the iris festival period). Admission 400 yen for adults, 200 yen for students (source: aggregated research on several tourist sites).

🚉 Sawara · 14 min walk

Sources: city.katori.lg.jp

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