Futon Daiko: Kaidan

futon_daiko_kaidan
The Futon Daiko festival at Mozu-Hachiman Shrine in Sakai, Japan is an amazing event. Each of the nine towns have their own float, or dashi. Two teams of fifty to seventy men are needed to carry these two and a half ton structures. And they do not simply carry them, but march in a straight-legged gait and sing.

The real trial for these men are the steps, or kaidan, that lead to the main shrine. After carrying the dashi all day, the floats are taken up and down these steps multiple times. It is a dangerous maneuver, but a crowd pleaser. Click on the image for a larger view.

Futon Daiko - William Ash

Futon Daiko: A Japanese Festival

We are pleased to announce our new publication that has just been released in the Apple iBookstore: Futon Daiko: A Japanese Festival.futon_daikoJapan has an ancient and mysterious culture that seems impenetrable to the outsider. Experience is the essence of the native Japanese religion of Shinto. This volume of photographs explores the Japanese festival, or matsuri, embodied in shrine Shinto. The book follows the two-day Futon Daiko festival at Mozu Hachiman Shrine in Sakai, Japan, after an introduction to another variation of the festival at Ogikubo Hakusan Shrine in Tokyo. William Ash’s photography shows the passion and power of these rites. The book provides a beautiful introduction to shrine Shinto with forty-six photographs, two illustrations, and an illustrated glossary.

Futon Daiko - William Ash

Welcome to Hakusan Creation

Welcome to the blog site of Hakusan Creation. We are an artist-run publisher exploring electronic publishing. The site is run by the photographer and designer William Ash and the writer and poet Naomi Otsubo. We hope you will find our work interesting. Welcome.
Hakusan logo

Hakusan, represented by the two Japanese characters in our logo, means “white mountain.” This comes from the name of a shrine in Tokyo where we were married. Hakusan is a sacred mountain in Japan.