The Edo Float Festivals

(draft — to be rewritten from the ledger) The Kanda and Sanno festivals of Edo were called tenka-matsuri: their floats are said to have entered Edo Castle to be viewed by the shogun. City festivals bound themselves to power, and the rivalry of neighborhood floats raised the craft. From the Meiji era, power lines made the tall floats impassable, and Edo's festivals shifted to portable shrines.