Nebuta artists Makoto Suwa and Hiromi Hayashi from Japan’s Aomori City yesterday announced that they would craft large lantern floats for this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi County at the invitation of the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC).
Nebuta are traditional lantern floats made with wood, metal wire and paper. The Aomori Nebuta Festival was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1980.
Suwa, Hayashi and their team would create nebuta for Chiayi County’s Pei Tien Temple, featuring the deities Mazu and Hu Ye, in time for the Taiwan Lantern Festival, which is to be held from March 3 to 15, GACC said in a statement.
Photo: CNA Photo: CNA
Although Suwa and Hayashi have previously visited Taiwan to exhibit their nebuta works, it would be the first time they produce nebuta from scratch in Taiwan, the GACC said, adding that it would also be the first time in 25 years that a large-scale nebuta is created overseas, following a project at the British Museum in 2001, and the first time such a work has been made in Asia.
Nebuta are not simply craftwork or lanterns, but rather the collective fruit of labor by local communities in Aomori, Suwa said.
The project is under considerable time pressure, as the team has only slightly more than a month to complete it, compared with the usual minimum of two months, he said.
Nevertheless, they would do their utmost to meet public expectations, he added.
Unlike Japanese deities, which often have no fixed visual form, Mazu is depicted with more established imagery, including posture and attire, Hayashi said.
He said that he felt honored to be invited to Taiwan to create nebuta as an artist, and expressed the hope that the project would convey the charm of nebuta to Taiwanese audiences.
The lantern festival coincides with the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011, GACC secretary-general Lee Hou-ching (李厚慶) said.
Lighting the lanterns, which symbolize safety, blessings and friendship, would therefore carry special significance and highlight the enduring bond between Taiwan and Japan, he said.
The floats would also take part in the festival parade scheduled for the evening of March 7, accompanied by nebuta dancers known as haneto, a staple feature of the Aomori Nebuta Festival.
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