South Shinshu Iida City Iida City is located almost at the middle of the length of the Tenryu River that flows south from Lake Suwa to the Pacific Ocean. It is the cultural, economical, and administrative center of South Shinshu. <Access guide> ■Chuo Expressway ・Exit at Iida Interchange ■JR Iida Line ・Leave the train at Iida Station ■High-speed bus ・About 4 hours from Shinjuku, Tokyo ・About 4 hours from Osaka ・About 2 hours from Nagoya Iida Puppetry Hall: 200 movable chairs Iida Cultural Hall: 1288 fixed chairs (800 on the ground floor) Iida Puppetry Hall It was the fourth public puppetry hall in Japan, opened in the summer of 1987 and commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Puppetry Carnival. It is situated next to Iida Cultural Hall, the headquarters of the Iida Puppet Festa. Puppet shows are performed all year round, not just in August when we have the Festa. Kuroda Traditional Puppet Show A traditional Japanese narrative puppet show with a 300 year history, the show is performed in April every year as a dedication at the Shimokuroda-Suwa Shrine at the spring festival. Imada Traditional Puppet Show A traditional Japanese narrative puppet show with a 300 year history, the show is performed in October every year as a dedication at the Omiya-Hachiman Shrine at its festival. Kuroda Puppet Theater Old Stage It is a puppetry stage built in 1840 (Tempo 11), and is a government-designated important tangible folk cultural heritage site. In 1999, the "Kuroda Traditional Puppet Hall" was built as a practice site for the Kuroda traditional puppet show and a training facility for four puppet show groups in Ina Valley. Takeda Memorial International Marionette Museum Puppets collected from all over the world by Mr. Sennosuke Takeda as well as Japanese traditional marionettes of the "Takeda Marionette Theater" are stored and displayed Humming Pals It is a puppet clock tower made as a symbol of the "city of puppet shows, Iida". At fixed times on the hour, four puppets start dancing following the fanfare of a "time guard Puppet Monument "Futari-nakayoshi (the two are good friends)" is a puppet monument, which represents an elder sister who performs a puppet show and a younger sister who watches it. It is placed in the citizens' square in front of the Iida Puppetry Hall and was made by Mr. Masamichi Yamamoto.