Carp streamer decorations have already appeared in the atrium of the basement-first-floor and first-floor central corridor at Palaceside Building in Takebashi, Tokyo, delighting visitors' eyes.
The Palaceside Building Meiten-kai (association of distinguished shops), chaired by Nakajima Sen of Akasaka Hanten, has organized this display every year at this season for three years so people passing through the building can feel the season.
The carp streamers at the center are dyed in Gujo honzome, also called "kachin-zome," passed down in Gujo Hachiman, Gifu Prefecture for 430 years, by designated important intangible cultural property dyer Watanabe Shokichi. The deep character comes from this traditional technique.
Streamers, true carp, and red carp hang from the first-floor ceiling, more three-dimensional than last year, seeming to swim in the atrium.
Guio honzome tapestries also adorn the atrium walls, and small carp streamers hang before member shops—the basement-first-floor and first-floor arcade wears early-summer dress. Until May 2.