Route 40°
North Latitude------6
Summer Festivals
Route

Aomori Nebuta Festival (Aomori City) (From August 2 to 7)

The people of northern Tohoku manage to squeeze a range of exciting festivals　and events into a few short summer months. But there is more than one kind of festival, each with its own atmosphere and purpose. While one festival might glorify strength and prowess, another features colorful dancing. In yet another festival people dance wildly attempting to steal the limelight from their fellow dancers. 

Hirosaki Neputa Festival (Hirosaki City)
Papier floats with pictures of brave samurai on the front and beautiful women on the back are marched through the city to the sounds of drums and whistles. (From August 1 to 7)

Goshogawara Tachineputa Festival (Goshogawara City)
This huge neputa float, over 20 meters in height, enjoyed its heyday from the Meiji period to the Taisho period and was revived only a few years ago. It appears at the fire festival in August. (From August 4 to 7)

Hachinohe Sansha Taisai Festival (Hachinohe City)
Throughout northern Tohoku this festival is renowned for its beauty. Twenty spectacular floats based on the motifs of mikoshi (portable shrines), kabuki, and legends are paraded through the city. (From July 31 to August 3)

Hanawabayashi Festival (Kazuno City)
Performed inside gorgeous floats using whistles and voices, the "Hayashi Music" at this festival is particularly famous. It has its roots in the the musical performances of more than 800 years ago and ranks as one of Japan's top three "Hayashi." (August 19 and 20)

Kanto Festival (Akita City)
People use their skills to support a bamboo pole with 46 paper lanterns on their palms, foreheads, shoulders, and waists. The bamboo poles weigh over 50 kg. Over 200 bamboo poles with lanterns are lifted into the night sky. (From August 4 to 7)

Morioka Sansa Odori Festival (Morioka City)
Groups of dancers and performers with drums or flutes parade nearly 1 km. It ends with a circle dance that anyone can join. The festival features the largest collection of drums in Japan. (From August 1 to 3)

Great Drum Museum (Kitaakita City)
At the Great Drum Museum you can experience the sound of drums. The museum houses the great drum of Takanosu, the largest drum in the world (3.71 m in diameter), as well as many other drums from all over the globe. (The Tsuzureko Great Drum Festival is held July 14 and 15.)

The Movements of Nebuta
The Nebuta Festival in Aomori City is known as the most powerful among those in the Tohoku region. A nebuta (referred to as neputa in Hirosaki and other locations) is a huge and brightly painted float, with a samurai design printed on the papier. A light inside the nebuta illuminates the float, which shines brightly in the night sky. Thousands of dancers jump around the various floats yelling,“Rasserah!”

The Skills for Bamboo Poles
Kanto is a festival representative of Akita. Each 15 m-high bamboo pole supports 46 hanging paper lanterns modeled after the ears of a rice plant. The contestants use their skills to support them on their palms, shoulders, foreheads and waists. The poles weigh about 50 kg and are very difficult for ordinary people to hold straight. Over 200 bamboo poles are carried at the festival. The bamboo poles with paper lanterns resemble the illuminated ears of rice plants.

The Beauty of Sansa
Sansa is one of the Bon summer festival dances that has been preserved in and around Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture. Morioka Sansa Odori is characterized by people dancing and parading down the street for a kilometer. There is also a circle dance that tourists may join. Dancers and people playing drums and flutes all parade together. Morioka Sansa Odori uses the largest number of drums in Japan, producing a truly powerful sound. This dance performed by nearly 30,000 people is notably more feminine and beautiful than Nebuta or Kanto.

Life Sketch

The Drum

The drum is an essential element of traditional events and festivals in Japan. Many groups play drums throughout the country. Although drums exist all over the world, people argue that Japanese drums sound especially beautiful and robust. The Great Drum Museum in Takanosu Town, Akita Prefecture has a collection of drums from all over the world and also houses the drum recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest in the world.