Based on more than thirty years' fieldwork, this book aims to increase the understanding of music played on elaborate wooden floats which form vital components in Japanese festivals with a religious dimension. The focus is on float-festivals in Aichi prefecture in central Japan; but wider perspectives, international as well as national, also come into play. Charged with spiritual power, the floats serve as mobile shrines with musicians riding inside them. The music they play has important functions at different stages of the festivals. The instrumental core of all ensembles is made up of drums and flutes. The composition of ensembles varies, though, as do the musicians' degrees of experience. These days, schoolchildren - increasingly girls in what used to be an exclusively male domain - play alongside adults. Float-festivals date back several centuries. A good deal of modernization has taken place from the mid-twentieth century onwards, but historical roots and connections are still discernible, and these distinctive festivals remain of great significance to many communities in modern Japan.