Kame Kasa Hoko float parade

The float photographed here was made 253 years ago, by a famous master from Kyoto, for the Honma family, the richest in the rice center town of Sakata.

The fantastic animals represented are significant for the local culture, and the float represents a turtle (kame), a messenger for the sea god, auspicious for the town, which is also a port. The turtle also has the head of a dragon, which is the kami of the local Kamihie shrine.