Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan — Attraction in Takayama

I visited the museum with floats (Yatai) that are listed as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.

The museum is located inside Hachiman-gu Sakurayama Shrine.

The star attractions? Stunning floats that are true masterpieces, adorned with lacquer, vibrant paintwork, exquisite woodwork, intricate metalwork, and impressive smithery.

The size of these floats is astounding! Imagine the Daihachi-Tai with wheels over 1.56 meters and the Hou-ou-tai showcasing a Phoenix with a wingspan of 1.8 meters and height of 8.8 meters! 😲

My absolute favourite was the Hotei-tai float, home to a dancing marionette. It takes 8 puppeteers, maneuvering 36 strings inside the float, to make this marionette perform its awe-inspiring jumps and somersaults 😲 I had the chance to watch a behind-the-scenes video of this in the visual room.

Don't miss the last photo for a close-up glimpse of the small, but mighty marionette.

The Gold shrine in the photo is a portable shrine called Mikoshi and weights about 2.5 tonnes 😱 80 people and two long bars are needed to carry the shrine.

All the floats are located in an exhibition hall with 10 metre ceiling height 🫣 These floats are changed three times a year so people can see different ones when visiting 😲

Just think of the teamwork required to navigate these behemoths through the crowd-filled streets. That's what I call the spirit of...

Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan is a museum dedicated to the spectacular festival floats (yatai) that play a key role in the famous Takayama Festival, held twice a year – in spring (April 14–15) and autumn (October 9–10).

The museum is located on the grounds of Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine.

The exhibition includes:

Festival floats (yatai): The museum displays four of the eleven elaborately decorated floats used during the autumn festival. The exhibits are rotated three times a year (in March, July, and November), allowing visitors to view different floats up close even outside the festival season.

Sakurayama Nikkokan: Adjacent to the main exhibition hall is a display featuring a detailed 1:10 scale model of the famous Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. This model, crafted by 33 artisans during the Taisho era, is an impressive example of traditional Japanese woodworking craftsmanship.

Admission fee: Adults: ¥1,000 (includes an audio guide, also available...

This is where the REAL Yatai are placed. If you have followed me, you can two places to learn about Yatai. Find out more.

That’s why when you do, you can take pictures but no flash is allowed due to preservation of the colour of the yatai. So there will be instructions everywhere to advise you.

The ticket includes the audio, please let the counter know which language you prefer. There is also a video to give you some lights to how the festival looks like.

Again, if you are like me, touring and coming here to learn more about the culture and heritage, come here! At the end this is part of the UNSECO cultural and heritage of Takayama.

Also there is another museum to show the Nikko Toshogu. I have been there! Was really awesome too.

Ticket...