Since there has been no public place to display the "Hakuga Yama" float after World War II, it has been placed at the Sugimoto Residence, the traditional wooden townhouse on Aya-no-koji-dori Street. Every year, during the Gion Festival, they remove the wooden screens in the entrance hall so that passers-by can enjoy the decorations. The doll sitting in front of the koto (Japanese traditional harp) with a hatchet is Hakuga, a Chinese virtuoso of harp in the era of the Chin dynasty (265-420).
The float depicts the scene in which Hakuga, with enraged eyes and flushed cheeks, is about to destroy his harp in desperate grief at the news of his best friend's death. Many yama floats were forced to rename themselves in the Meiji Era, and there is a record that this float was also renamed from "Kotowari (breaking a harp) Yama" to "Hakuga Yama".
By T.S. on 30th Jun., 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment