Nagahama Hikiyama Museum 長浜曳山博物館

Official explanation

The Nagahama Hikiyama Festival takes place each April, but the festival’s elaborately decorated floats are displayed year-round at this centrally located museum.

Hikiyama are mobile stages, each between 6 and 9 meters tall and weighing between 5 and 6 metric tons. During the festival, teams of around 40 people pull the hikiyama to different locations throughout the city. At each stop, child actors who ride inside the hikiyama emerge to perform Kabuki plays accompanied by musicians hidden behind the stage.

Read the full explanation

Two or more hikiyama are always on display at the museum. The stages have been nicknamed “mobile art museums” for their ornate decorations, which include crimson lacquer, gold leaf, intricate carvings, and detailed metalwork. Guests accompanied by a certified regional interpreter guide have the rare chance to step into the glass-walled bay for an up-close inspection.

The museum also has displays that introduce the history of the festival, which has been held in its current form since the eighteenth century. Near the entrance is a replica of a hikiyama stage, atop which visitors can imagine themselves as performers. Video recordings of past Kabuki performances are screened on the second floor, where there are also pictures of the priceless embroidered curtains that hang on the back of each hikiyama.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.