A couple of traditional wooden riverboats tied up with our infamous blue, pink, and green bridge behind. I recently learned the significance of the colors of the bridge. The blue represents the sky, the pink represents cherry blossoms, and the green represents the mountains. Some more photos here.
The boats are made of Japanese Cedar, and the design has barely changed in over a thousand years. Locally they are called "Takatsubune", to distinguish them from "Kawabune" which are similar but narrower and not flat-bottomed.
There are lots of kawabune used on the river by fishermen, and fibreglass ones are becoming more common. These two Takatsubune are waiting to carry the local kami with attendant priests, musicians, amd villagers, upstream for the most important religious ceremony of the year, the Suijin Matsuri.
nice pictures! I seldom have seen such boats.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is filled with wonderful stories and pictures! I'm quite impressed and will continue to follow it.
ReplyDeleteActually, I saw you at a recent all-night Kagura performance in Waki-cho. I'm looking forward to being able to go through your other posts at leisure, as I think you have lots of knowledge and experience of the area that I am just beginning to learn.
Expect to hear more from me~
That bridge is just yummy. I meant lovely. Yummy and lovely. :) simply perfect! LOL!
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