Abura-tenjin-yama 油天神山

This float enshrines Michizane Sugawara deified as Tenjin (Deity of thunder), a renowned scholar statesman who lived about 1,100 years ago. A small Tenjin shrine dedicated to Michizane, the patron of scholastic achievements, exist in the neighborhood of Abura-no-koji St., after which this float is named.

This float has a vermilion torii gate in front, and an image of Tenjin made in 1630 is in its gold foil coated shrine. The statue, originally handed down through the generations by the local Kazahaya family, was later kept in a small sanctuary in the neighborhood. The float displays a real pine tree and pink ume (Japanese apricot) twigs decorated with beautiful, small bells. Its upper side hanging called a “Mizuhiki” renewed in 2006 based on the design of a famous 15th century Mille-Fleurs falcon tapestry in the collection of the Cluny Museum in Paris. The rear hanging is based on a painting by the late Ryuzaburo Umehara, a Western-scholar painter, whereas the hangings on both sides are based on works of the late Seison Maeda, a Japanese-school painter, both of whom are among the greatest painters of the 20th century Japan.