Yatai Woodblock Print - Shakkyōtai

The ornate festival floats, known as yatai, paraded through the town of Takayama are one of the most well-known attractions of the Takayama Festival. The festival is held twice a year in spring and autumn and is often regarded as one of the three most beautiful festivals in Japan. The floats are a symbol of the community and a demonstration of expert craftsmanship, as each one is lavishly decorated with paintings, detailed woodcarvings, sculpture, lacquerwork, intricate metalwork often finished in gold, and embroidered drapery of dyed textiles. The float featured on this print is called Shakkyō-tai, one of the 12 floats of the Spring Takayama Festival.

The print is made using woodblock printing methods. Woodblock is an age-old method of printing used in the Asian continent, adopted in Japan during the Edo-period (1603-1868 CE) for printing books and creating decorations, painting on paper and canvas. Detailed reliefs of the original patterns are carved by experts into several wooden blocks, with one block for each colour of the design.