A restaurant's huge nebuta-style signboard was temporarily illuminated on the streets of Shinsekai, a downtown district in Naniwa Ward, Osaka, on Tuesday night.
The operator of a deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables restaurant called Yokozuna installed the signboard on its main shop as part of renovations. The signboard measures about 20 meters in width and five meters in height.
The signboard is designed in a style like the illuminated floats in the Aomori Nebuta Festival and features depictions of sumo wrestlers and kabuki actors. It signifies the hope of bringing the coronavirus pandemic under control.
The lights will be turned on in earnest when the refurbished restaurant opens, but the date is not set due to the current state of emergency that is in place.
In Shinsekai, a long-established puffer fish restaurant called Zuboraya closed last September due to deteriorating business conditions caused by the coronavirus and other factors. The eatery's famous huge puffer fish lantern was also removed.
"By way of a new landmark in Shinsekai, we hope the district will flourish again," said an official from Hassin Co., Yokozuna's operating company.
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