Aomori · HirosakiNo.1283★★Open in map →
Hirosaki Neputa Festival
In early August, Hirosaki pulls its neputa — lantern floats, mostly fan-shaped and painted with warriors — through the castle town to flutes and drums. It is a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and its route changes partway through the week.
- FromHirosaki Station (JR Ou Line)
- ~30 min on footOn foot from Hirosaki Station
- Hirosaki Neputa Festival
The sweet spot
The festival is a nationally designated folk property and draws big crowds, so this is not a hidden event. What first-time visitors tend to miss is that it moves. The first four evenings run along Dotemachi in the town centre; the next two pass the station instead; and the last day is a morning run that ends, in the evening, beside the Iwaki River.
Where it is
34 more notes in Aomori · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Hirosaki City Tourist Halla free hall at Otemon Square, with neputa on show on its ground floor
- Sakura Odorithe avenue where paid seating goes up for the Dotemachi nights
- Dotemachi streetthe central street from Shimo-Dotemachi to Naka-Dotemachi, at the heart of the course
- Dotemachi Jumonjithe crossroads at the far end of the Dotemachi course
- Hirosaki Station frontwhere the procession passes on the station-front nights
How to actually get there
- Hirosaki Station central exit → Ekidote Promenade (on foot).
- Ekidote Promenade → Dotemachi; turn right toward the castle.
- Along Dotemachi to the Machinaka Information Center at Naka-Dotemachi (about 30 min in all).
- On the 5th and 6th, stay by Hirosaki Station instead: the procession comes to the station front.
- On foot from Hirosaki Station
- Leave Hirosaki Station by the central exit and pick up the Ekidote Promenade, a footpath toward Dotemachi. At its end, turn right and follow Dotemachi toward the castle. Konan Railway's walking guide gives about 30 minutes and 2 km for the whole way to Chuo-Hirosaki Station, which sits just off this stretch, so the procession street comes a little sooner.
- Back to the station
- Walk the same way back, and allow extra time while the crowd disperses. On the two station-front nights the procession passes Hirosaki Station itself, so the walk home is short. If you are leaving town on the JR Ou Line, check the last train before the evening starts.
About the place
A neputa is a lantern float, lit from inside and pulled through the streets by a large team. Most of Hirosaki's are ogi-neputa, built in the shape of an open fan. The front panel, the kagami-e, carries a warrior scene in hard, bright colour. The back, the miokuri-e, shows a woman's figure in a calmer key. A smaller number are kumi-neputa, figures modelled in three dimensions. Around eighty floats take part, large and small, and the biggest stand more than nine metres tall. A band of flutes and drums follows each one, and the pullers keep up a call of 'Yaa-yado'.
How to enjoy it
Evening processions set off at 19:00. The first four evenings use the Dotemachi course, and on the 5th and 6th the route switches to the station front. On the 7th the floats run Dotemachi again from 10:00, and that evening the week closes on the bank of the Iwaki River, where neputa are sent off in flame. By day, the Tourist Hall lets you study a float at rest, close enough to read the brushwork.
Background & history
The festival is thought to have grown out of nemuri-nagashi, a midsummer rite for washing away the drowsiness that dragged on farm work, and the name is said to be a worn-down form of nemuta, 'sleepy'. Over time it merged with Tanabata and with the Bon custom of sending off the spirits. The oldest written record dates from 1722, when Tsugaru Nobuhisa, the fifth lord of the domain, watched the neputa. Under the domain, the floats were sent down the river on the last day, nanukabi. The state designated the festival an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1980.
Before you go
- Cash
- The procession runs on public streets. Paid seats are sold through the Hirosaki tourism bureau and set up on Sakura Odori for the Dotemachi nights and beside the station for the station-front nights. The Tourist Hall charges no admission.
- Before you go
- The dates are fixed to the calendar rather than moved to a weekend, so most of the week falls on weekdays. The Tourist Hall closes over the New Year holidays.
- Another way
- Konan Bus's Dotemachi loop runs from Hirosaki Station along Dotemachi, stopping at Naka-Dotemachi and Shimo-Dotemachi. It is a daytime service, so use it to arrive early and plan to walk back after the procession.
- After you get off
- From the central exit, follow the Ekidote Promenade to Dotemachi and turn right toward the castle. Hirosaki City's Machinaka Information Center stands on the course at Naka-Dotemachi.