Hitachi Fūryūmono

Overview

Hitachi Furyumono is a mechanical puppet play using a giant float, offered at the festival of Kamine Shrine in Miyata, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture. It is known as a grand event unrivaled anywhere in the country, in which intricate mechanical puppets perform historical tales by means of manipulating strings atop a five-tiered float reaching about fifteen meters in height. Because of its great scale and the ingenuity of its mechanisms, it is counted among the folk cultural properties representative of Japan and has been registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The greatest characteristic of this event is that the float is not merely pulled but the five-tiered structure at its top opens from the center to both sides, each becoming a stage on which the mechanical puppet play unfolds. Intricate mechanisms such as the quick transformation of the puppets astonish the audience, concentrating the finest of the techniques that villagers refined alongside their farm work. It is a rare festival in which prayer and entertainment become one, guarded and handed down by the hands of local people over some three hundred years.

History and Origins

The origins of Hitachi Furyumono go back to the eighth year of Genroku, 1695. By the order of Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the second lord of the Mito domain, when Kamine Shrine became the guardian shrine of the three villages of Miyata, Sukegawa, and Ose, the parishioners of Miyata village built a float and offered it at the festival, praying for daily prosperity such as freedom from illness and abundant harvests. The simple prayer offered in welcoming the guardian deity of the region became the starting point of this grand event.

It is said that the combining of the float with puppet plays began in the Kyoho era, from 1716 to 1736. The mid-Edo period when Furyumono arose was an age in which puppet joruri swept the country, and it is thought that villagers influenced by it repeatedly devised improvements alongside their farm work and made the technique of puppet-making their own. Here one can see the process by which the performing arts culture of the city was taken into the festival of a farming village and developed in its own way.

Hitachi Furyumono has been handed down in the four districts of Miyata in Hitachi City, namely Higashimachi, Kitamachi, Honmachi, and Nishimachi, with one float each for a total of four, and became a great source of entertainment for the villagers. As these four towns competed over the quality of their work and repeatedly made improvements from the mid-Meiji to the early Taisho era, the floats evolved into the five-tiered structure seen today and grew larger. The driving force of rivalry among the towns pushed this event to a scale among the largest in the country.

Entering the Showa era, public displays were suspended after the eleventh year of Showa, 1936, amid the mood turning toward the Pacific War, and in July of the twentieth year of Showa, 1945, an incendiary attack by the US military burned two of the four floats, half-burned one, and destroyed about seventy percent of the puppet heads. However, in the twenty-ninth year of Showa, 1954, a preservation society was formed and momentum for revival rose, and in the thirty-third year of Showa, 1958, one float was restored and displayed for the first time in twenty-one years. In the thirty-fourth year of Showa, 1959, it became the first float of its kind in the country to be designated a national Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property, and in the fifty-second year of Showa, 1977, all four floats were designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Furthermore, it was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009 and given an expanded registration as a Yama, Hoko, and Yatai float event in 2016.

Highlights

The Mechanical Float Whose Five Tiers Open The greatest highlight is the structure in which the five-tiered kara-hafu style roofed frame atop the float, about fifteen meters tall, opens from the center to both sides to become stages. The way it unfolds as if thrusting outward from a closed state, with puppet plays of different scenes performed simultaneously on each tier, is overwhelming, and forms an original mechanism not seen in other float events.

Mechanical Puppet Plays Manipulated by Strings On the stage of each tier, mechanical puppet plays such as the Genpei Seisuiki and the Chushingura are performed. The puppets move by the manipulation of strings, and above all the quick transformation, in which a puppet changes into another form in an instant, greatly astonishes the audience. The refined string-manipulation technique influenced by puppet joruri, combined with the enormity of the float, leaves a powerful impression.

A Large Float Among the Foremost in the Country The present Hitachi Furyumono is a large float among the foremost in the country, reaching a height of fifteen meters, a width of three to eight meters, a depth of seven meters, and a weight of five tons. The parishioners move this giant body by human power, and its value as a folk cultural property lies in the fact that everything, from assembly and manufacture to the opening operation of the frame, the making and operation of the puppets, and the musical accompaniment, is carried out by the hands of local people.

All Four Floats Together Once in Seven Years Normally one float is displayed each year in the early April Hitachi Sakura Festival by rotation among the four towns, but once in seven years all four town floats are displayed together in accordance with the grand festival of Kamine Shrine. The sight of four giant Furyumono lined up together is a special one rarely seen, and marks a great milestone for the local people as well.

Techniques Handed Down by Local Hands Everything, from the assembly and manufacture of the floats and frames to the making and operation of the mechanical puppets, the movement of the floats, and the musical accompaniment, is borne by the hands of the parishioners of Kamine Shrine, now members of the Hitachi Folk Performing Arts Preservation Society. The depth of this event as folk culture is shown in the way local people continue to inherit the techniques rather than entrusting them to specialized craftsmen.

Event Information and Access

• Location: Miyata, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture
• Venue: Kamine Shrine and central Hitachi City (the site of the Hitachi Sakura Festival)
• Dates: One float is displayed by rotation among the four towns at the early April Hitachi Sakura Festival, and once in seven years all four floats are displayed at the grand festival of Kamine Shrine
• Repertoire: Mechanical puppet plays such as the Genpei Seisuiki and the Chushingura
• Cultural property designation: National Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property (1959), national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (1977), and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (registered 2009, expanded registration 2016)
• Access: Around JR Joban Line Hitachi Station; the area of the Hitachi Sakura Festival

Nearby Attractions

Heiwa-dori, the site of the Hitachi Sakura Festival where Hitachi Furyumono is displayed, is known as a famous cherry blossom spot selected among the hundred best cherry blossom sites in Japan. Rows of cherry trees continue for about one kilometer, and the spring scene in which the giant Furyumono is displayed beneath cherry blossoms in full bloom is filled with a gaiety unique to this place. The scenery in which festival and cherry blossoms become one draws many blossom viewers and festival spectators.

Hitachi City has a history of developing as an industrial city facing the Pacific Ocean, and beautiful scenery spreads along its coast. The city is dotted with viewing spots overlooking the sea and facilities conveying the history of the region's industry, and alongside viewing Furyumono one can touch the origins of the town of Hitachi. Kamine Shrine sits on a height overlooking the city and has been the center of faith for this region.

The area around Hitachi City in northern Ibaraki Prefecture is also a region blessed with the nature of sea and mountain. With many sights such as scenic coastal spots and nearby mountains, one can, with the grand folk event of Furyumono at its core, tour the nature and culture of northern Ibaraki as well, and fully savor the appeal of this region.

Related Information

• Month: Early April (Hitachi Sakura Festival) and the grand festival of Kamine Shrine once in seven years
• Location: Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture (Kanto region)
• Venue: Kamine Shrine and central Hitachi City
• Type: A float event and mechanical puppet play
• Cultural property: National Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property, national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Yama, Hoko, and Yatai float events
• Features: Origins in the eighth year of Genroku, 1695; by the order of Tokugawa Mitsukuni; a five-tiered float about fifteen meters tall; a mechanical puppet play manipulated by strings

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