Morimachi Float: Sakae-cho, Tounsha

At Kanamori Shrine in the town stands a large camphor tree over 400 years old, wrapped by a wisteria known as the "Great Wisteria of Juyoya" (the old place name of Sakae-cho). The wisteria vines were likened to a dragon rising to the sky, and the float is said to have been named "Tounsha" in the hope of the town's development and leap forward. • In 1989 (Heisei 1) it separated from Shimojuku (Sosuisha) and became independent • Metal ornaments by Murai Kanagu-ten (Kariya, Aichi) • Features not found on other floats include makie lacquer of "heavenly maidens" and "phoenixes" below the hamabuchi (sketches by Sue Miura), and shell-inlaid makie depicting "flowers and birds" and "pine, bamboo and plum" on the four corners of the base Builder: Shohei and Kazuo Yamamoto, father and son (Sakae-cho) Carving: Takashi Shimura (second-generation Ryucho, Mikuni, Fukui) Painting: Namikichi Hagimura and son (Kiso District, Nagano) Wheels: Toshio Muramatsu (Nakayokocho) Calligraphy of the float name on the front blind: Hakuju Kuisako (from Honmachi, Morimachi)