What other travelers are saying about Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall
I enjoyed this display of the traditional floats, but a large tour group took away from the experience. Beautiful to see but quite a small display for what I expected. Enjoyed the scale models next door (part of admission), but the shrine and November colors were star of area
It is a museum and exhibition hall devoted to the lovely floats of the Takayama Festival. Festival is held annually in April and October. The streets fill with tens of thousands of locals and visitors enjoying food from stalls and refreshments. Popular place, have to buy tickets. Easy terrain, easy walking around museum. Wear comfy shoes, take water, wear hat, sunscreen. Great place for photography.
We missed the festival by a few days (it’s on the 9th and 10th October), so we got to see some of the floats (4) at the museum.
Your visit will be rather quick because there’s not much to see, but you can learn a bit about the history behind the festival and the floats through the audioguides (available in english) and if you come with a guide, as it was our case. The video they show on the second floor is ok but rather dated, and the TV is quite small.
Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan is a museum dedicated to the spectacular festival floats (yatai) that play a key role in the famous Takayama Festival, held twice a year – in spring (April 14–15) and autumn (October 9–10).
The museum is located on the grounds of Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine.
The exhibition includes:
Festival floats (yatai): The museum displays four of the eleven elaborately decorated floats used during the autumn festival. The exhibits are rotated three times a year (in March, July, and November), allowing visitors to view different floats up close even outside the festival season.
Sakurayama Nikkokan: Adjacent to the main exhibition hall is a display featuring a detailed 1:10 scale model of the famous Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. This model, crafted by 33 artisans during the Taisho era, is an impressive example of traditional Japanese woodworking craftsmanship.
Admission fee: Adults: ¥1,000 (includes an audio guide, also available in English).
One of the few places where one can truly understand the exhibits as the ticket comes with use of audio commentary kit in English and a few other languages.
Amazing to see the spring and autumn floats on display and understand more of the cultural, religious practices.
Ticket includes entrance to adjacent museum displaying a 1/10 model of Tokugawa mausoleum.
The Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall, or Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan, is a museum dedicated to preserving and displaying the ornate festival floats used in the Takayama Festival, one of Japan's three most beautiful traditional festivals. The hall showcases four of the eleven floats at a time, rotating them three times annually to protect these delicate cultural treasures dating from the 16th to 19th centuries.
Admission to the Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall costs ¥1,000 for adults. This ticket includes access to both the main float exhibition and the adjacent Sakurayama Nikkokan, which houses a detailed one-tenth scale model of Nikko Toshogu Shrine that took over 15 years to complete using 250,000 pieces.
The exhibition hall is located approximately 15 minutes on foot from JR Takayama Station in the Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine complex. Visitors can walk through Takayama's historic district to reach the museum, or take local buses that serve the area. Walking is the most popular option as it allows you to explore the preserved merchant quarter along the way.
Yes, the exhibition hall features regular karakuri puppet demonstrations throughout the day. These demonstrations showcase the mechanical dolls mounted on the festival floats, where skilled operators manipulate the puppets through complex movements using only traditional strings and levers, displaying the sophisticated engineering techniques developed during the Edo period.
No, the exhibition hall allows visitors to experience the festival floats year-round without needing to attend the actual Takayama Festival held in April and October. The climate-controlled museum environment actually provides better viewing opportunities than the crowded festival days, allowing you to examine the intricate carvings, lacquerwork, and metalwork details up close at your own pace.
