Most guide books will tell you to steer clear of Japan in the summer months because of the intense heat and crippling humidity; it’s not bad advice but you’ll miss out on some of the best festivals Japan has to offer – with their roots based in ancient folklore, these colorful spectacles are still very much part of contemporary society.
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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.
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In the final year of World War II in the Pacific the Allied forces led by the United States were preparing for a costly invasion of the Japanese mainland. This undertaking was preceded by a massive aerial bombing and firebombing campaign that devastated 64 Japanese cities.
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The invention of the nuclear bomb began in London in the early 1930s and ended in the New Mexico desert when the the first nuclear bomb was detonated in July 1945 Later, the US dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 135,000 people.
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Tokyo, Japan’s capital is one of Japan’s 47 prefectures, consisting of 23 central city wards, multiple towns and villages outside the city centre and Izu and Ogasawara Islands.
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