Hassaku Festival is held every year on September 1 as a regular festival of Oide-jinja Shrine and the largest festival held in Tsuru City. The local people affectionately call it the “Ohassaku.” Floats adorned with decorative drapes rich in pageantry are pulled through the streets, and an enormous daimyo (feudal lord) procession parades through the city.
The drapes are made using precious foreign materials, such as scarlet rasha cloth, velvet, and gold and silver threads, and embellished with embroidery by first-rate artisans of Edo. It is said that the cost of producing the drapes was borne by a small handful of silk wholesalers in Yamura, who prospered in a town that flourished as a distribution hub for Gunnai textiles.
Restoration of the floats began in the 1990s, and four have so far been completed. Three of them are stored in a glass-walled display warehouse so they can be viewed from outside, and one is on display in Museum Tsuru. The decorative drapes are placed on permanent display also at Museum Tsuru, to ensure its preservation in a properly air-conditioned environment.
The drapes are made using precious foreign materials, such as scarlet rasha cloth, velvet, and gold and silver threads, and embellished with embroidery by first-rate artisans of Edo. It is said that the cost of producing the drapes was borne by a small handful of silk wholesalers in Yamura, who prospered in a town that flourished as a distribution hub for Gunnai textiles.
Restoration of the floats began in the 1990s, and four have so far been completed. Three of them are stored in a glass-walled display warehouse so they can be viewed from outside, and one is on display in Museum Tsuru. The decorative drapes are placed on permanent display also at Museum Tsuru, to ensure its preservation in a properly air-conditioned environment.