Nagahama Hikiyama Museum
The Nagahama Hikiyama Festival takes place each April, but the festival’s elaborately decorated floats are displayed year-round at this centrally located museum.
Hikiyama are mobile stages, each between 6 and 9 meters tall and weighing between 5 and 6 metric tons. During the festival, teams of around 40 people pull the hikiyama to different locations throughout the city. At each stop, child actors who ride inside the hikiyama emerge to perform Kabuki plays accompanied by musicians hidden behind the stage.
hikiyama are always on display at the museum. The stages have been nicknamed “mobile art museums” for their ornate decorations, which include crimson lacquer, gold leaf, intricate carvings, and detailed metalwork. Guests accompanied by a certified regional interpreter guide have the rare chance to step into the glass-walled bay for an up-close inspection.
hikiyama stage, atop which visitors can imagine themselves as performers. Video recordings of past Kabuki performances are screened on the second floor, where there are also pictures of the priceless embroidered curtains that hang on the back of each hikiyama.
- Address
- 14-8 Motohama-cho, Nagahama City, Shiga
- Access
- [Public transportation] 7-min. walk from Nagahama Stn. of JR Biwako Line
- Business hours
- 9:00～17:00
(Final admission 16:30)
- Price
- Adults: 600 yen; elementary and junior-high school students: 300 yen; Preschool children: Free of charge
You can also use Nagahama Passport(1500yen) to enter.
