Deep Shiga you don't know - Experience local culture and traditional crafts while traveling around Lake Biwa and the Kohoku area

The traditional craft that gave birth to the Hikiyama Festival: the Buddhist altar

Nagahama in Shiga Prefecture is the location of the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival, known for the splendor and elegance of its floats, along with the Gion Festival in Kyoto and the Takayama Festival in Gifu. One theory is that this festival began when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the lord of Nagahama Castle, to celebrate the development of the castle town, and even today it remains an important event that symbolizes the local culture and connections between people.

The biggest attraction of the festival is the gorgeous floats. The floats are decorated with advanced woodworking techniques and are unparalleled in their splendor and intricacy. Each float is decorated with traditional carvings, metal fittings, lacquer and gold leaf, showcasing the skills of local craftsmen.
In fact, the origins of this float lie in Buddhist altars, and it has a very interesting and deep history.

In the Kohoku region, including Nagahama, there was a family of carpenters called the Fujioka family who were highly renowned for their temple and shrine construction from the early Edo period. The heads of the Fujioka family took the surname "Izumi" for generations, so the area is also known locally as Fujioka Izumi.
The Fujioka family was a distinguished family of palace carpenters who not only built temples and shrines, but also constructed Buddhist altars using traditional Japanese woodworking techniques and "shikuchi" joints that do not use any nails. They were particularly renowned for their plain wood carvings on the spaces between pillars, beams, and transoms, and they realistically depicted Buddhist motifs such as lotus flowers and auspicious designs such as biwa lutes and peonies. While the construction of Buddhist altars is often divided into different tasks, the Fujioka family handled all of the wooden parts themselves, and it is known that they also designed the metal fittings, making them something like the overall producers of Buddhist altars.
Buddhist faith has been deeply rooted in Nagahama since ancient times, and the area has the largest number of temples in the country. Therefore, it was customary for each household to have a magnificent Buddhist altar. Buddhist altars made in the Nagahama area in particular are called "hamadan (Nagahama Buddhist altars)" and are impressive works of art, as they are made with delicacy and precision, almost like a miniature temple, and are made with the utmost craftsmanship.

Nagahama's floats, which have their roots in Hamadan, share the same sophisticated woodworking techniques, ornate decorations such as carvings, lacquer painting, and metal fittings, and there are many similarities in the roofs and parapets that make them up. All of the 13 existing floats that were built after the Fujioka family began making Buddhist altars were made by Izumi Fujioka, which is why it is said that the roots of floats lie in Hamadan.
Nagahama developed as a commercial center, and was designated as a "Red Seal Land (tax-free land) with an annual tax of 300 koku" by Hideyoshi's town planning, and as the area amassed great wealth, the wealthy merchants built extravagant floats. These later had an influence on Buddhist altars, and over time, altars became as ornate and extravagant as the floats.
The oldest known Hamadan can be seen at the Nagahama City Hikiyama Museum in the center of town, where two are on display. Although both were made at roughly the same time by Fujioka Jinbei Shigemitsu, the first head of the Fujioka family, their designs are completely different. Comparing them, the one made in 1680 is characterized by a simple beauty centered around lacquer painting and plain wood carvings, while the Buddhist altar made five years later is adorned with intricate, gorgeous metal fittings throughout. These decorations were added about 100 years after the altar was made, and it can be inferred that the altar was influenced by the Hikiyama floats in later periods, and became more decorative.

Hamadan gradually adopted the splendor of the floats, but another reason for this is that the frequency of Buddhist ceremonies in the region meant that people frequently had opportunities to see Buddhist altars in their homes, and so interest in them continued to grow among the people.The process in which the altars evolved from the simple and sturdy creations of the Fujioka school into the luxurious altars of today can be considered to have been the result of a "maturity" that was fuelled by the strength and ties of the community of the people of Nagahama.
Inside the museum, you can see the floats in use and how they are being repaired, so it may be even more interesting to compare the floats and the beach platform.

Hamadan are also on display at Buddhist altar stores in the city.
At Eirakuya Nagahama store, you can see everything from ancient Buddhist altars to those suited to modern lifestyles.
Buddhist altar stores also undertake initiatives beyond the sale of Buddhist altars, such as training artisans, passing on their skills to the next generation, and reassessing the value of Buddhist altars. Traditional crafts are difficult to revive once they are lost. In this environment, Buddhist altar stores play a role in connecting these crafts to the future by nurturing skilled artisans, communicating their history, and introducing the manufacturing process.

When we look at it this way, we can see that the Buddhist altar encapsulates the social life of Nagahama throughout history, including the origins of the town, faith, and connections between people. In addition to being used for religious ceremonies and as a tool, the Buddhist altar also plays a role in passing on the relay baton of the cultural heritage of crafts.
The Buddhist altar embodies all of Nagahama's traditional crafts, history, and culture. It's too deep to encounter on a trip, but I was able to spend a cultured time fusing travel and learning.

Nagahama City Float Museum

Eirakuya Nagahama store

The story of the Yonekawa River that enriched life in Nagahama

Nagahama is a city located near the shores of Lake Biwa and its downtown area, and has historically developed as a part of an important route connecting the Sea of Japan and the Keihanshin (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe) region, along which many goods were transported. Nagahama Port developed as a stopover for both water and land transport, and flourished as a post town on the Hokkoku Kaido road.

The "Yonekawa" river that runs through the city was also a river where boat traffic that used Lake Biwa was loaded and unloaded, and there was a time when boats entered deep into the city, with wharves and markets formed along the river. Even today, town names such as Funamachi and Hamamachi that evoke those days are still used in the surrounding area, and warehouses, boathouses, and all-night lights that served as lighthouses for boats remain.
The river has long benefited the entire society, not only for water transportation but also as water for daily life and irrigation, and as a place for children to play in the river and fish, and even today it adds a refreshing murmuring sound to the landscape.

The Yonekawa River flows through the center of Nagahama City, a tourist destination, and is a river that many people see during their travels. The water quality is maintained thanks to the abundance of spring water, and if you look closely, you can see many schools of sweetfish. It harmonizes with the surrounding greenery, providing a soothing experience to visitors.
Nagahama has matured as a tourist destination through history, but there are also people living and working in the area. Experience "Yonekawa" and get a feel for "ordinary Nagahama." With the cooperation of Nagahama Machidukuri Co., Ltd., which holds observation meetings, river cleanups, and river interaction events, we will unravel the lives of people in Nagahama through the river.

We immediately went into the river with Takemura-san and Yamada-san from Nagahama Machidukuri Co., Ltd. Looking up at the town we had just walked through from a lower spot, we gazed straight ahead and saw the river surface right in front of us, an extraordinary experience.
The Yonekawa River is a small river that serves as irrigation water flowing along the roadside and between houses, and is firmly integrated into the living area. The numerous stairs leading down to the river recall the scene of the time when people went down from their houses and shops to use the river for washing dishes, etc.
The first thing you notice when observing the river is the countless "tea bowls" in the water. These are the things that give the area a sense of life. Are they a product of the era of mass production of ceramics?
The next thing you notice is the aquatic life swimming here and there. How rich it is that so many creatures live in a river that flows through the middle of the city. Not only sweetfish and minnows, but also yoshinobori, ukigoi, kamatsuka and crayfish, and other fish leisurely glide past your feet. This is no doubt the result of the abundance of spring water, the bounty of Mother Lake Biwa, and the efforts of local people to protect the river.
Looking along the river, you can see the attractive wooden buildings that flourished as a temple town for Daidouji Temple, which was built during the Warring States period and was also a center of local faith. The remains of a traditional Japanese restaurant give the impression that many people visited from all over the country. Behind it, in the river, there are remains of a fish pond, recalling the past when the area was crowded with famous restaurants serving Lake Biwa specialties.
The differences in the stone walls of each house are a symbol of the landscape remaining untouched since long ago, when no embankment construction work had been carried out.
Here we found a scene of the good old days of Japan that we would like to preserve forever.

By re-examining the river that is so close by that we have forgotten about it, we will discover the charm of Nagahama.
Once again, we were able to experience Nagahama with all our senses, while being conscious of the nature that is so close to us and enjoying the river.

The nature experiences offered by Nagahama Machidukuri Co., Ltd. include river boat rides, river walking events where you can clean up the area, picnics and cycling along the shores of Lake Biwa, and more, all of which allow you to fully experience the nature surrounding the river and town.
We have a menu that is perfect for those who want a different kind of trip, a trip that gets closer to local life, or an experience that delves deeper into the town.

[Notes about playing in the river]
Before planning a river walk or swimming, check the weather forecast and be aware of sudden weather changes. Wear appropriate clothing for swimming and a life jacket, and always have an adult supervise children playing in the river or under the supervision of an expert.

BIWAKO PICNIC BASE (Nagahama Town Development Co., Ltd.)