Electrical appliance shopkeeper from Sakyo ward donates painting to Kamigyo Shrine.
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When he is not at work, Eizo Yamada, the 68 year-old owner of an electrical appliances store in Nagatani-cho, Sakyo ward, Kyoto, engages in his hobby of doing painting in traditional Japanese-style. After laboring for two years, he has recently completed a large painting of the Imperial procession from the Aoi Festival and has donated the painting to Kamigamo Shrine, Kita ward.
Mr. Yamada began to study Japanese-style painting when he turned 60 and he painted the parade of floats from the Gion Festival. For his recent work, he based his painting on materials from Kamigamo Shrine and pictures of the Aoi Festival procession which he had taken. He found time to paint during breaks from work and vacations. His painting, which is made up of 6 panels (0.9 m by 1.8 m each), is approximately 10 meters in length. It is an accurate depiction of the procession, with "Saio-dai"* leading the parade of approximately 500 participants in costume and their ox-pulled carriages. Mr.Yamada has skillfully rendered both Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines and the streets of Kyoto, and capturing the feeling and mood of the festival. The painting will be on display in the waiting room in front to the main shrine at Kamigamo Shrine. * The Saio was an unmarried Imperial Princess who performed services for the Aoi Festival in Heian period ( 794-1192 A.D.) The Saio-dai, which means a representative of the Saio, is a woman selected from among Kyoto residents who conducts the services as a substitute of Saio. |
