Every autumn from October 1st through November 23rd in Fukushima Prefecture the city of Nihonmatsu hosts one of Japan's largest flower festivals.  Known as "Nihonmatsu no Kiku Ningyo" (Nihonmatsu Chrysanthemum Dolls), the event takes place in the ruins of Kusumiga Castle and attracts over 400,000 visitors.  The festival covers an area of 15,000 square meters, has 130 flower mannequins and more than 30,000 chrysanthemum flowers.

Behind the scenes, a huge staff works tirelessly to plan and build the exhibitions. Preparation begins long before the opening date, with the chrysanthemum growers cultivating the flowers more than a year in advance. A great deal of the work goes into ensuring that the flowers will be at their peak while the festival is in progress, with factors such as sunlight being carefully controlled so that the buds will bloom at precisely the right time. The setting and layout of the displays is drawn up by a team of planners who decide the content of each exhibit and sketch how they visualize each scene. These ideas are then passed onto the designers who decide how each of the dolls should look, right down to their poses and expressions. The plans are then put into the hands of set makers, doll makers and the chrysanthemum costume makers who bring the creations to life. Each doll's costume consists of fifty to one hundred flowers, with one floral robe taking an entire day to complete. The task of preparing one hundred and thirty dolls is long and painstaking.

Every year there is a different theme.  The 51st annual exhibition depicted in this portfolio tells the story of Minamoto no Yoshitsune's life.  One of the events portrayed is the naval battle of Yashima in 1185 off the coast of Shikoku.  Yoshistune's enemy, the Taira clan, were expecting a naval attack, so Yoshitsune lit bonfires leading the Taira to believe that a large force was approaching on land. They abandoned their stronghold and took to their ships. The Taira placed a fan atop the mast of one of their ships and dared the Minamoto clan to knock it off. In one of the most famous archery feats in Japanese history, Nasu no Yoichi rode out into the sea on horseback and did just that. The Minamoto clan was victorious, but the majority of the Taira fleet escaped to Dannoura where they were defeated one month later.

Another famous event brought to life in the flower show is the fight between Saito Musashibo Benkei and Yoshitsune on the Gojo Bridge in Kyoto. Benkei is said to have posted himself at the Gojo Bridge where he deprived every passing swordsman of his weapon, eventually collecting 999 swords. On his 1000th duel, Benkei was defeated by Yoshitsune. Thereafter, he became a retainer of Yoshitsune and fought with him in the Genpei War against the Taira clan.

The amount of time and energy put into preparing the Nihonmatsu show every year is reflected in its reputation as Japan's definitive chrysanthemum doll exhibition, with tour groups and television crews coming from all over the country to admire the beautiful scenes.