With only one month left until the New Year, the city of Tsugaru in Aomori Prefecture has begun making kadomatsu, which is decorated as a lucky charm.
Mr. Fuminari Sato, a farmer in the wooden district of Tsugaru City, has been making kadomatsu since this time every year.
The work began in earnest on November 11, and in the workshop, Mr. Sato and his family inserted branches of black pine collected locally one after another around the three bamboo trees that they had erected on the foundation, and shaped them.
Then, he decorated it with lucky charm fans and decorations, as well as Nanteng, which is said to "turn difficulties," and completed three types of kadomatsu from 30 cm in height to 3 meter 80 cm in height.
Of these, two tall types of kadomatsu are made of bamboo called "laughing bamboo" whose cross section of the cut looks like a smiling face.
Mr. Sato said, "Like this laughing bamboo, I am making it with the hope that next year will be a year where everyone can spend their time laughing."
By the end of December, Mr. Sato's workshop plans to make a total of 2 kadomatsu and deliver them to companies and shops inside and outside the prefecture.