This noren's design is inspired by the floating shadows of festival dancers cast by lanterns on a hot summer night.
In Katsuyama, the dance for the Bon Festival is called the Chiyomanzai-hounen (Eternal Wish for Good Harvests) Dance. They recently changed the layout of their noren from the one they used to have.
The shopkeeper is a member of the committee charged with preserving this dance as part of the town's heritage.
The signboard of the store reads Ya-Ah-Toh-Oo-Seh, a phrase that's shouted while doing this traditional dance.
This Maniwa souvenir shop was an inn named "Kishiya" about 100 years ago. But the present storekeeper chose a new name which is pronounced the same but uses Chinese characters that mean "the desire to please." It is his hope that this name will help him to never forget to put the happiness of his customers first.