and usually owned by a daimyo or other high-status person. Dashi karakuri (山車からくり, festival car karakuri) were large mechanical dolls used in religious
Kyoto. Gion Matsuri attracts huge crowds to see the procession of huge dashi (山車, matsuri floats) and mikoshi (神輿, portable shrines), while Aoi Matsuri and
Dashi and Yatai floats are sometimes called hikiyama and yama. Dashi floats (山車) are an important component of Japanese festivals, and were originally designed