Aomori Nebuta Festival

AOMORI NEBUTA FESTIVAL

courtesy of Misawa 35th

ITT

WHAT IS THE NEBUTA FESTIVAL? Aomori Nebuta Festival is one of the most famous festivals in Japan and is known as Japan’s fire festival. It’s held 2 - 7 August every year. Over 20 Nebuta floats are pulled by people through the streets of Aomori City. Aomori citizens and the audience participate in the festival.

To make a nebuta float, wooden bases are built, and frames are made with wires. Then, washi paper is glued on the frames. Finally, Japanese historical figures, or Kabuki characters, are painted on the paper. It takes almost a year to complete a nebuta float.

The Nebuta festival is a great visual spectacle, as well as a treat for the ears. The resounding beat of the taiko drums and the shrill of the flutes give the festival its soul. The taiko beat is simple and repetitive, yet powerful and infectious.

Each Nebuta float is accompanied by thousands of distinctlycostumed dancers called haneto. The huge Nebuta overlook a sea of haneto out in front with their colorful flowered straw hats bobbing up and down. They jerk and jingle and hop all over the road while shouting “Rasse, Rasse, Rassera!” They twist and shout amid reverberating taiko drums and flutes. Sometimes they form a small circle and dance in unison. Their costumes have little bells which often fall off. Little kids run and pick up the fallen bells on the road.

The audience is welcomed to participate. If you would like, you can rent or buy the costume of haneto and join the parade.

Nebuta parades take place in the streets close to the JR Aomori Station. It is highlighted by a fireworks display over Aomori Bay on the final day.

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THE ORIGIN OF NEBUTA The Nebuta festival represents all the festivals of the Tsugaru area. There are many theories regarding the origin of the festival. One theory is that the chief retainer of the founder of the Tsugaru feudal domain, Tamenobu Tsugaru, created the prototype of Aomori Nebuta. It is said that people walked in procession with big lanterns in the neighborhood of his residence in order to forget the heat of summer. Another theory is that that the festival started when the founder of the Tsugaru feudal domain, Tamenobu, showed big lanterns to the people of Kyoto during the Bon Festival in 1593 when he was staying there. A further theory says that the festival originated as a folk event called Nemuri-nagashi relating to the Star Festival. In Aomori Prefecture, the folk custom, Nemuri-nagashi started before the establishment of the feudal domain and children paraded with lanterns suspended from bamboo poles in villages in July. The event was intended to wipe away the drowsiness that frequently attacked people around this season. There is a theory that Nenpute, which means sleepy in the Tsugaru dialect was corrupted to “Neputa”. The most romantic theory is the legend of Tamuramaro Sakanoue. The legend goes that Tamuramaro Sakanoue came to Oushu as a general in the 800s in order to subdue Yezo, who did not obey the orders of the Imperial Court. He made big lanterns, lured Yezo (demons) by making noises with pipes, drums, and hoes, and caught them instantly. Yezo also refers to part of Japan that many people associate with today’s Hokkaido. However, according to various documents, Yezo appears to mean areas north of Tohoku, at least until 1,000 A.D., when Tamuramaro Sakanoue traveled east to subdue them. This can also be backed up by the fact that Yoritoki Abe, who was residing in and ruling the then Oushu (present day Iwate), called himself the Chief of Ezo. The Ougi Neputa seen in the Hirosaki Neputa festival have heroic pictures on the front from the scenes of “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” or “Heroes of the Marshes” and contrasting pictures on the back, that are called okurie or miokurie, like the standing figures of beautiful enchanting women or drawings in India ink.

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RULES OF THE NEBUTA • Gather at the waiting circle 30 minutes before the start of the Nebuta parade

• Put on HANAGASA (special hat for the festival) and the rest of the costume

• Follow the instructions of the executive committee • Do not bring any other whistles which have no relation to the Nebuta Festival music

• Do not set off fireworks or firecrackers • Do not bring any bottles of alcohol or throw away any empty cans

• Do not join the Nebuta Parade after it starts • Clear the way for ambulances and fire engines when they are called out

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COSTUME OF ‘HANETO’ DANCERS ❶ Put HANAGASA on your head ❷ Tuck up your sleeves with TASUKI ❸ Put on SHIGOKI around your waist and GAGASHIKO on your hip (GAGASHIKO is a tin canteen for drinks) ❹ Wear YUKATA or KIMONO ❺ Tuck up the skirt, and put pink or blue OKOSHI on under it ❻ Put on SIRATABI or ZOURI for your shoes.

Shops where you can rent Nebuta costumes Shop name

Address

Telephone #

Heian

1 Furukawa

017-776-3027

Bangofuku

Yokouchi

017-738-7977

Koubeya

2 Tsutsumi-machi

017-723-3389

Watanabe Service

Hon-chou

017-777-1388

Amaya Shouten

3 Furukawa

017-776-6432

Tailor Fukushi

2 Shinmachi

017-723-2477

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HOW TO MAKE A 1. DESIGNING Inspired by a historical story, the designer starts drawing a rough design in pencil and then adds colors. Nebuta designer takes the most time in this stage.

2. BUILDING NEBUTA TENT A tent must be built for making and containing Nebuta. Its size will be 12m wide, 12m deep, and 6m to 7m tall.

3. PARTS PRODUCTION Miscellaneous parts (face, hands, legs, knife, spear, etc,) are built.

If the rough drawing is finished early, these parts can be prepared before the tent is built.

4. FRAMING A wooden frame is constructed as the support for the wires and strings that the washi paper will be glued to. Prior to 1955, bamboo was used instead of wires.

5. ELECTRIC WIRING Electric bulbs and fluorescent lamps (600 - 800 pieces) are used inside Nebuta. Many years have passed since candles were used.

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A NEBUTA FLOAT 6. PAPER PASTING Pasting paper to the wire and string frame is the most difficult process of Nebuta production.

7. DRAWING (SUMI) Draw with Sumi Ink. 8. DRAWING (BRAZE) Pattern with colored braze. This also prevents blotting.

9. PAINTING Paint with colorant.

10. PLACING Place Nebuta on the 2m tall base by 50 people.

11. FINISHED The Nebuta’s finished height is 5 m.

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NEBUTA AROUND THE WORLD The Aomori Nebuta Preservation and Transmission Ordinance, enacted in March 2001, regulates costuming and other aspects and helps citizens work together to preserve this important and historical cultural tradition for future generations in the form of a wholesome and enjoyable festival.

The treasure of the Aomori people, the Nebuta Festival was first presented overseas in Hawaii in 1963 and since then has visited many other countries.

In an unprecedented event from November 2001, a Nebuta float was built before the public and then exhibited for two months at the Welcome Trust Gallery of the British Museum, the oldest museum in the world.

Many people were entranced as they viewed, for the first time, a Nebuta artist, and his assistants, skillfully construct a Nebuta float, starting with just a rough sketch. When it was time to affix the paper to the framework, eager volunteers came forth to help. Visitors to the exhibit were fascinated and moved and the event was featured in the media all over England, with a leading article in The Times titled “Float of Wonder: The Latest Extraordinary Exhibition at the British Museum.”

Later, on September 15, 2002, the Nebuta float, named “Yoshitsune Tokai,” was paraded along the banks of London’s River Thames during the Lord Mayor’s Thames Festival. An exciting time was had by the spectators as well as the Japanese expatriates and other London citizens who participated as haneto dancers dressed in the traditional costumes.

The tradition and spirit of the Aomori Nebuta Festival, a cultural asset born of the natural climate, history and lifestyle of the city, promises to continue to enthrall people around the world in years to come.

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AOMORI CITY Aomori City, capital of Aomori Prefecture, is located at the northern tip of the Japanese mainland. It sits between the prefecture’s two distinct regions, Tsugaru and Nanbu. The city faces Mutsu Bay, with the Shimokita Peninsula to the east and the Tsugaru Peninsula to the west. To the north, across the Tsugaru Straits, lies the island of Hokkaido. South of the city stretches a crescent-shaped plain occupied by rice fields and orchards and bordered by the Hakkoda Mountain Range, looming approximately 1,500 m (about 4,900 ft) above them.

Locked as it is between mountains and sea, Aomori has long, cold, snowy winters. Its summers, by comparison, are relatively short and mild. In fact, there are probably few other cities of comparable size (300,000 inhabitants) in the whole world that experience such a winter snowfall.

First opened to foreign trade in 1906, Aomori is now the chief transportation center of North Honshu, with important rail lines and ferry services. It is also the site of the world’s longest tunnel, the Seikan Tunnel, which stretches 33.4 mi (53.7 km) and connects Honshu and Hokkaido. Fish and lumber are among its exports, many of which are shipped to Hokkaido. A modern city, it was rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1910, and again after severe air raids in 1945.

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Aomori City Map

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