Aomori Prefecture

Throughout July and August there are festivals all over Japan celebrating all manner of things – from the literal star-crossed lovers of Tanabata to the returning of deceased ancestors at Obon. However, for the citizens of Aomori Prefecture, August is a time to celebrate warriors of the past. ‘Nebuta’ festivals, in which giant floats of samurai warriors are dragged through towns, are held right across the prefecture, but by far the biggest is Aomori Nebuta Festival. Held in the prefecture’s capital, it is an all singing, all dancing, all drumming, all excitement festival that is so big that it is makes up one of the Three Great Tohoku Festivals (along with Akita’s Kanto Matsuri and Sendai’s Tanabata Matsuri). History of Aomiri Nebuta Festival As tends to happen with these ancient cultural events, there are a number of stories explaining the origins of the Aomori Nebuta Festival. The most likely is that it simply springs from Shinto tanabata rituals and has grown over the years. However while that explanation may have the largest grain of truth to it, it’s not quite so exciting. A tale that perhaps does live up to the frisson of the festival, the one that is most widely circulated, is that the…