Tohoku’s three great festivals
Aomori Nebuta Festival 2.Aug~7.Aug
The Aomori Nebuta Festival is held in the city of Aomori, this festival runs for six days straight every year at the beginning of August. The Nebuta, which has been designated as a significant intangible folk cultural asset, is paper-made floats decorated with human figures such as ancient warriors. While festival, each nebuta is surrounded by dancers in traditional costume called “Haneto” who dance with festival music. The dancers chant in a local dialect, waving to visitors and bystander to come and join in row. The true origin of the festival is yet to be unknown, the most widely-known story is that a shogun during the Heian era (794 – 1185) who conquer barbarians used moths and taiko drums to draw the enemy’s attention during battle, creating a new tradition which would become a annually celebration. Another story is that after the battle, the shogun forced captors to bury the dead in the ground and then trod on the ground to make sure they are sent to the other world; the footstomping would eventually evolve into the contemporary haneto dance.
Sendai Tanabata Festival 6.Aug~8.Aug Tanabata festivals are held across Japan on July 7th, when according to Chinese legend, the two stars Altair and Vega cross paths. The Sendai Tanabata festival is one of the largest and most famous tanabata celebrations in Japan. This festival starts 400 years ago, Date Masamune who rule the area, whose missing eye earned him the nickname “one-eyed dragon”, established the basis of modern Sendai-city. While festivities mainly held throughout Downtown Sendai, thousands of colourful decorations made of bamboo and sasatake, a traditional Japanese paper. Fronts of local shops or houses or schools are decorated by hanging small paper which are then hung from long bamboo poles. On the street, parades, live concerts, and fireworks entertain you throughout the day to the night.
Akita Kanto Festival 3.Aug~6.Aug
Held every year in Akita-city from August 3 to August 6, the Kanto Matsuri is a Tanabata-related festival best known for its impressive street performances. Performers use their bodies to balance Kanto (bamboo poles) of varying lengths with arrays of paper lanterns attached to the end, each of which is lit by a real candles. The parade marches through the center of the city accompanied by moths and taiko drums while bystanders chanting "dokkoisho, dokkoisho". Though there are a number of activities and special events for visitors, the main events are the night parades, which are held every night during the festival for about 90 minutes. During the night parade, all of the kanto performers are gathered and given a chance to showcase their skills for the crowd. After the show, visitors have about 15 minutes to meet and talk with the performers, pose for a photo and, if they’re lucky, have a shot at balancing a kanto pole. The various performing groups, carrying nearly 250 kanto poles, line up on the street nearly one kilometer long, and the poles are all raised up at once when a signal is given and the performers show off their skills. The event lasts about 90 minutes, and at the end of each night there is a 15 minute session during which the audience is allowed to talk with the performers, take photos and try their hand at raising up a kanto.
Another article about iconic festival in Akita prefecture.
(Why not miss the festival of castles illuminated in the sky of Akita(North Tohoku))
There are many summer festivals to be held from late July to August in Tohoku. Because summer tends to be geographically shorter in Tohoku than in western-Japan and Kanto-area, it is said that the festival is traditionally condensed in a short period of time. If you plan to travel around Tohoku in summer, why not incorporate summer features into your itinerary?
Click here and go to the three most beautiful summer festivals in Japan !