The National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) is a research center for ethnology and cultural anthropology.

Decoration for “Little New Year”

  • HI 1311, 1314, 0411
  • Akiyama, Nagano Prefecture
Decoration for “Little New Year”

At the end of the Edo period, when the exhibited house was constructed, villagers of Akiyama mainly grew beans and such millet grains as cockspur, foxtail millet, and buckwheat. On the special occasion in the middle of January, called Little New Year, villagers made rice cakes in the shape of all these crops, stuck them on tree branches to depict an abundant harvest, and prayed for a generous harvest in that year.

Neputa float (Fan-bearing neputa) | Masks | Yagorodon giant on festival-cart |
Ropes | Hiki-yama float | Interior of a peasant house in Nagano | Basket cradle |
Decoration for “Little New Year” | Futamune-zukuri homestead in Okinawa | Earthen pots for ashes