Aomori Nebuta Festival

Have you heard Tohoku 4 biggest festival??

No1 Nebuta festival in Aomori

No2 Akita Kanto festval

No3 Sendai Tanabata festibal

No4 Yamagata hanagasa festival

At the beginning of August we went to with customers to Tohoku 4 major festival.

I changed two times of Shinkansen and moved a long distance by bus afterwards.

My customers 47 people. The average age 65 years old or.. older.

So ...everyone exhausted for a long time of the move and the summer heat.

It is not at all a cheap tour !!!!!

BUT This Tohoku 4 biggest Festival is worth seeing (。◕‿◕。)

I'd like to talk about Aomori Nebuta Festival in that today!!

Welcome to the Aomori Nebuta Festival (The Dummy Float Festival) Aomori Nebuta Festival , August 2 to August 7 annually.

It is said that the Aomori Nebuta Festival originated from Tohoku Nagashi( Floating lanterns on a river) Which is a ritual event in many nationwide Japanese Festivals, Tanabata matsuri(Festival of the water) .

For floating lanterns we put a candle inside a wooden frame wrapped in Japanese paper. The lit candle illuminates the doll when it is released into a river or the sea.

It is believed that this will drive away evil spirits and bring good luck and good health.

In Aomori, lanterns built in the shape of figures inspired by legends or history became the prevalent form, whereas in Hirosaki a fan-shaped lanterns( knows as Nebuta) prevalied.

At one time (Meiji era,1868-1912), people used wood or bamboo to make the frame of the paper dolls and used a wax candle for light, but eventually they changed to wire and electricity.

The lanterns of today have become bigger and much more detailed.

Aomori Nebuta was designated as a significant intangible folk cultural asset in 1980 and recognized as an important and uniquely Japanese festival.

The Nebuta was displayed in the British worldwide attention.

As stated before, Nebuta is a doll made from wood, wore and paper with an electric light.

The size of most Nebuta is about 9m wide x 7m deep x 5m high.

Nebuta artists immediately get to work on the conception for next year after the festival ends and it takes about a year of planning and 3 month of work to make one Nebuta.

It is said that the construction cost is about 4 million yen each. ＼(◎o◎)／！

People often dance and jump, calling out Rassera !! Rassera!!

These people are called Haneto. Almost all the Haneto are Aomori citizen. but anyone can join the festival if they wear the Haneto costume.

This is one of the best parts of the Aomori Nebuta festival.

Why don't you join the festival??( ´艸｀)

In Nebuta Hayashi, Drums and whistles are used for rhythm and music, and small,palm-sized cymbals, called Kane are added to it. The Haneto jump and dance to the seamless and passionate music.

For sea travel, Nebutas are put on barge and towed to the sea.

It is said that this ritual is a vestige of the traditional Tourou Nagashi ( Floating lanterns on a river)

A　fireworks festival is also held on the same day!! Combined with the illumination on the sea, colorful fireworks in the dark sky make the last day of the festival very special.

Before the festival, you can see the construction process of a Nebuta up close in Nebuta Rasse land, which is in Aoiumi Park behind Aspm.

Hope you have wonderful experience at the Aomori Nebuta Festival. Please relax and enjoy your experience!!!!