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The Takayama Matsuri (Festival) is regarded as one of the
three most beautiful festivals in Japan. (along with Chichibu Matsuri
in Saitama Prefecture and the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto.)
The focus of the festival is the magnificent floats which
are pulled through the strees of the town.
The Takayama Matsuri actually composed of two festivals:
the Spring Festival (April 14th and 15th), in which 12 floats take part,
and the Autumn Festival (October 9th and 10th) which features 11 floats.
The Takayama Festival began about 350 years ago as a simple
village ceremony. Since Takayama is in Hida, the center of Japan's timber
producing region, the town grew as an important distribution center for
the area, attracting large numbers of sake brewrers, cloth merchants,
woodworkers, and other craftsmen. As result support of these rich merchants,
and the pride in the high quality work of the artisans, the floats beccame
more and more magnificent, as result of competition developed among the
various districts of the town.
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