Donden Museum, Festival museum in Inuyama, Japan.
The Donden Museum houses mechanical puppet performances from four different neighborhoods, each representing distinct narratives through detailed craftsmanship. The collection displays how these mechanisms are constructed and how they operate within the festival floats.
The collection documents the Inuyama Festival, which began in 1635 and reflects the festival culture history in this castle town. The Seiobo karakuri puppets were built in 1776 and represent significant examples of mechanical craftsmanship from that era.
The karakuri puppets tell stories from Chinese mythology through their mechanical movements on the festival floats. Visitors can observe how these figures are integrated into the shrine's life and what narratives the local community preserves.
The museum offers regular demonstrations of the puppet mechanisms throughout the day. Visitors should expect the exhibition to consist mainly of display cases and video screens, so comfortable walking and good vision are helpful.
The festival floats are about 8 meters tall and display different scenes such as the tale of Jurojin and court officials among plum blossoms. This size and the complexity of the moving figures make the technical achievement of the design particularly noteworthy.
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