OSAKA -- The world of "The Nutcracker" has been elaborately recreated across seven large display windows at an Osaka department store ahead of Christmas.

       Department store shop windows are increasingly opulent at this time of year, attracting people to stop in front of the brilliant displays while music plays from speakers.

       Hankyu Department Store's Umeda Main Store in Osaka's Kita Ward started the displays inspired by "The Nutcracker" in 2019. Its enthralling world unfolds across seven windows each measuring about 4 meters high and 6 m wide.

       This year's theme is "children's dreams." The story created by the store begins with a scene of an adult Clara reading to her twins Marie and Johan, and the siblings traveling through the world of Christmas dreams.

       The store's decoration department art director Kazuhiro Kameyama, 68, called 2021 a "culmination year." Kameyama draws storyboards in a sketchbook, creates models, and presides over everything including the story structure. He said that he "put into the theme the bond between parents and children, bright dreams and hopes for future generations" because people have had less contact amid the coronavirus pandemic.

       Children are seen enthralled by the world of "The Nutcracker" at Hankyu Department Store in Osaka's Kita Ward on Nov. 23, 2021. Platforms placed under each window allow children to easily look at the displays. (Mainichi/Maiko Umeda)=Click/tap photo for more images

       About 100 employees took a total of some 14 hours across two days to make the Christmas special display windows after business hours. Starting by installing foundations, they adjusted details including puppets' positions and orientations, and lighting angles. Of the 100 puppets, 80 move -- twice as many as last year -- and staff gave their full attention to ensuring the puppets did not block one another.

       All of the puppets were made by Yumi Hayashi, 42, a puppet creator living in the Czech Republic, using wood and papier-mache. She commented, "I'll be happy if children see the windows and smile." She apparently secretly goes to the site after the displays are completed every year to catch passersby's delight looking at the displays. Under each window are red platforms for children to see the displays from.

       The dreamy world that Kameyama and other staff have devoted their thoughts to is now welcoming visitors. Kameyama said, "We hope children will think during the Christmas season, 'I can see "The Nutcracker" at Hankyu Department Store.'"

       (Japanese original by Maiko Umeda, Osaka Photo Department)

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