Visited 15.10.2015 (Thu)
Background. Various Nebuta/Neputa festivals are held throughout Aomori Prefecture during the summer season. The word "Nebuta" is coined from the adjective "neputai" which means sleepy in Aomori dialect and the main objective of the festival was to motivate people to pull through the dog days of summer in the past. Today, though the significance of celebrating this festival may not be the exactly the same anymore, the modern version festival has become an intangible cultural asset of Aomori Prefecture, attracting millions of visitors annually during the festival period.
Background. Various Nebuta/Neputa festivals are held throughout Aomori Prefecture during the summer season. The word "Nebuta" is coined from the adjective "neputai" which means sleepy in Aomori dialect and the main objective of the festival was to motivate people to pull through the dog days of summer in the past. Today, though the significance of celebrating this festival may not be the exactly the same anymore, the modern version festival has become an intangible cultural asset of Aomori Prefecture, attracting millions of visitors annually during the festival period.
Rassera! In Aomori city, Nebuta festival is held between 2 to 7 Aug. Gigantic, elaborately designed and vibrantly coloured lantern floats are constructed from scratch by local artisans. It takes approximately three months to create one such gigantic lantern float. The lanterns, typically depict kabuki, various types of god or characters from folk tales, are created from wire, covered with high quality Japanese paper and illuminated by light bulbs. They are placed on top of two wheel trucks which are loaded with power generators and the entire setup, each weighing as heavy as 4 tons, are pushed manually during the street parade. As the lantern floats are paraded down the street during the festival, participants will dance and exclaim "rassera" along the way. This chant came about during pre WWII days when the lantern floats were illuminated using candles. Children would shout "dase, dase" when asking for more candles to be lit and this phrase was eventually turned into "rasse, rasse" overtime. If you are unable to join the actual Nebuta festival in summer, there is a museum, situated just a stone throw away from Aomori JR Station, for visitors to experience the joyous ambience of Aomori's Nebuta festival all year round.
Impressive. The exterior design of the museum building is especially eye catching and intriguing, and can be easily identified from afar. The two storey tall building is encapsulated by long, vermilion coloured steel plates, which extend from the top to the base of the building. Each steel plate is gently twisted at the center of its length. At the entrances of the museum, the steel plates are designed and oriented to look as if the plates were pried open.
Heritage. The tour of this museum begins on the second floor. First, visitors will pass through a tunnel in the Nebuta Museum where the historical background of Nebuta festival is introduced using interactive media, video clips and pictorial exhibits. Here, the prototypes of these lanterns are displayed, allowing visitors to take a peek at its inner structure. Followed the flow of the exhibits and descended to the first floor where we came up close to the actual, large sized lantern floats. Named Nebuta Hall, five floats from the most recent festival are displayed here. The level of details portrayed in each of the lantern is just mind blowing and left me in awe. This is truly a showcase of the impressive skills that the locals possess to build these extraordinarily beautiful lanterns and most importantly, their undying spirit and commitment to preserve this culture for many future generations to come.
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Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse ねぶたの家 ワラッセ
〒030-0803 青森市安方1-1-1
Operating hours: 0900 - 1900 hrs (May - Aug); 0900 - 1800 hrs (Sep - Apr)
Admission fee = 600 yen
http://www.nebuta.jp/warasse/
How to get there?
(1) By foot from JR / Aoimori Tetsudo Aomori Station 青森駅. About 1 minute walk from the train station.
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Commemorative stamp:
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