By YOSHIAKI ARAI/ Staff Writer
June 30, 2023 at 19:00 JST
Lantern makers use a brush to write characters and draw symbols on paper lampshades at the Okugawa Lantern Factory in Kyoto’s Shimogyo Ward on June 29. (Yoshiaki Arai)
KYOTO--Lantern makers here toiled without a day off for the past couple of weeks to meet around 2,700 orders for the city’s iconic Gion Festival in July.
The traditional paper shade lanterns decorate streets, Shinto shrines and festival floats during the celebration, which takes place from July 1 to 31. The highlights this year are on July 17 and 24 when parades of massive floats are featured.
“It makes me happy to see so many people walking under the light of our lanterns,” said the owner of Okugawa Lantern Factory, which was founded in the late Edo Period (1603-1867).
This year, orders for the festival lamps finally returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to the company.
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