Myōken Shrine Festival Scrolls
A scroll of the festival that is more than 40 meters long was drawn by Yoshisato Kai, a painter in the employ of the Matsui clan, the lords of Yatsushiro Castle.
By comparing the kasaboko, or parade floats, in the scroll and the year written on the kasaboko that are actually used in the Yatsushiro Myōken Festival today, it is estimated to have been drawn about 200 years ago between 1805 and 1809. From the shishi, or lion, at the head to the very last Yabusame horse, the procession from that time is detailed and colorfully drawn.
There are also several scrolls drawn during the Edo period. The present-day Shinkō procession is based on these scrolls and is held in a form that reproduces the order and number of floats, as well as the costumes worn by participants, as much as possible.
