 |  |  |
| | |
Festival lanterns of paper and bamboo like the ones seen here are hung under the eaves at front doors to contribute to a general holiday mood. Sometimes they bear the names of commercial enterprises housed in the buildings where they are hung.
Gifu lantern. The ribs of Gifu lanterns are especially fine, and the covering
of cool-colored paper is decorated with paintings of flowers and grasses.
Suspended from the eaves, these lanterns, which are made largely in Gifu
Prefecture, give a pleasant illusion of relief from summer heat. Since they
are often placed in front of Buddhist shrines during the summertime Bon
festival in remembrance of the dead, they are also known as Bon lanterns.
