Yamakasas Traditional Arts

The word Yamakasa refers to the richly decorated Handbarrows, that are made for the festival, though The festival itself is also often referred to as “the Yamakasa”. Here we will explain how the Yamakasa are made, and the tradition of the decorations.

Decoration of the dynamic Kakiyama and the static Kazariyama

Decorations

When speaking about the festival, the first thing, that comes to mind are always the pompous and richly decorated Yamkasa, that make up the hart of the festival.

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Traditional handcrafted puppets and how they are made

Decoarive puppets

The puppets on the Yamakasa are designed new each year by a Hakata puppetmaker, that often uses them to tell a history story or portrait a famous event.

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Traditional techniques of building the Kakiyama with only wood and rope.

The Kakiyama Framework

The Kakiyama must withstand alot of force when beeing carried by about 30 men through the city. It is therefore very astonishing, that the whole frame is built without nails and solely out of wood and rope. The techniques used to make this possible have been given down from generation to generation and are a wonder of craftsmanship.

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Here the tchnique of thightening the rope is thoroughly explained.

Making the Kakiyama

For attaching the 5.45 metre long carrying bars to the frame of the Kakiyama the craftsmen use nothing more than two 41 metre lengths of rope.

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