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An 8-Day Journey Through the 'Rising Dragon'

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DAY 4: Monday

Takayama Autumn Festival (Gifu)

Takayama Autumn Festival (Gifu)

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Today’s activities centered around one of the highlights of the tour: the Takayama Autumn Festival. Though a relatively small castle town, the old streets of Takayama are flooded with sightseers every October 9 and 10, coming to see one of the top three most beautiful festivals across the whole of Japan. And it is indeed a spectacle. The main attractions are the ornately decorated yatai, for which the translation “float” does little justice in describing their intricate beauty (see the pictures, you’ll know what I mean).

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Atop a special one, named Hoteitai, a karakuri doll performance is held twice daily, really showing off what can be done with strings and a bit of elbow grease. There is certainly something mesmerizing about watching the mechanical puppets and their dances, the effect dampened only slightly when a hooded figure emerged, head bowed, to place a fallen puppet back on its swing.

The seriousness with which the performance is undertaken is tangible: I found out later I had been sitting next to the local governor, and there was even a TV crew filming the understandably nervous puppet master as he called up words of encouragement to his crew working in the wings above.

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Following this spectacle we spent an afternoon wandering the old town, essentially eating as much as possible while following the yatai parade and enjoying the olde-world atmosphere, well preserved to the smallest detail. And, as I noticed many times on this trip, a strong sense of community hung plain in the air for all to see. It seemed everyone was chipping in—young and old, male and female, dragon-head-wearing and non-dragon-head-wearing. Though the younger townspeople were clearly becoming exhausted as the festivities continued, it was uplifting to be part of a time-honored event that is so clearly by the people, for the people, and not simply a hollow shell for tourists.