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Where it's at
The Nebuta Festival takes place from August 2th to
7th in the city of Aomori, which is located at the
northern tip of Honshu, Japan's main island. Nebuta means
drowsiness. Similar to the Kanto
Festival taking place in Akita during the same
week, the festival has it's origins in waking up sleepy souls
with the fall harvest season coming up. There are Nebuta Festivals
in various places in the Tohoku district, although
the one in Aomori is the most famous. Last year, some 37 million
sightseers came to the city for the festival. The Nebuta Festival
is probably one of the best known and biggest events in Japan.
What happens at the Nebuta Festival?
The festival features a parade of huge floats in the shape
of samurai warriors. The floats are made with wooden or bamboo
frames that are covered with brightly colored papier-mâché
and lit from within by hundreds of light bulbs. Most of the
warriors depicted are historically famous generals or characters
from well-known Kabuki plays.
The 2004 Aomori City Hall float depicted a character called
Musashibo Benkei. He was a man of extraordinary cunning,
strength, and martial arts skill. He accompanied the warrior
Minamoto Yoshitsune throughout all of the campaigns of the
Taira-Minamoto War in 1180. After the war the victorious Minamoto
Yoritomo turned against his brother Yoshitsune who fled with
Benkei. When Yoshitsune was by his brother's troops, Benkei,
fighting alone to the death, held off the troops for long
enough to give Yoshitsune time to commit an honorable suicide.
The float depicted Benkei standing firm to the death whilst
being shot with arrows.
As dusk approaches, the floats, which measure as high as eight
meters (26 feet) and as wide as 15 meters (49 feet), are illuminated.
They are then pulled along a 2.5-kilometer (1.5 mile) course
by anything from four to 50 people. The festival in Aomori
usually features around 20 floats.
One of the reasons for the popularity of the Nebuta Festival
is the free participation of many Aomori citizens. Around
each float are hundreds of male and female dancers, called
haneto, who parade around town to the accompaniment
of flutes and drums chanting "Rasse-rah, rasse-rah."
Anyone can join the fun as a haneto by renting a costume from
a local shop.
The peak comes on August 5th and 6th, when the largest number
of floats are on display. On the final day - August 7th -
the floats begin their procession in the afternoon. Later
that the evening, three floats judged to be the best are taken
to the sea and placed on ships for a cruise around the port
of Aomori. |
