OMUTA, Fukuoka -- A brightly colored mythical serpent-shaped festival float is drawn in chalk at a cafe in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, as the local festival featuring these giant serpent floats has been postponed until next year.
The art depicts a type of float that is usually seen at the Omuta Daijayama Festival, which translates to the Omuta giant serpent festival. The dynamic picture of the float is drawn using reds, blues, yellows and various other colors, and is attracting the attention of the cafe's customers.
Residents and local shrines build the serpent floats, which are then paraded through the streets during the festival every year in July and August.
As a result of the coronavirus, this year's festival has been postponed until next year.
To cheer up the residents who were disappointed by the decision, the cafe, ROOTH 2-3-3, asked Nao Tashima, 43, a chalk artist based in Onojo, Fukuoka Prefecture, to create a piece of art.
Tashima drew the picture on canvas, measuring 1.8 meters by 1.8 meters, using a variety of colored chalk on July 19, and spent seven hours creating it.
She included a lot of details into her drawing, such as the shining eyes and the powerful flames that come out of the serpent's mouth.
At the cafe, there are about 50 paintings on display depicting Daijayama floats drawn by children at local nursery schools.
There are also about 50 photos documenting the process of how the floats are made, from cutting down bamboo trees to gluing washi paper, on display as well.
"Even though parts of the city were damaged by torrential rains, I want residents here to get a little bit of their energy back by seeing how enthusiastic festival-goers are," Tashima said.
The chalk art can be viewed from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Aug. 10, but the cafe is closed on Wednesdays.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
