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Being the cultural
capital of the north we are at no lack of festivals. To
the left is a float from Nebuta. Millions of people come
from all across Japan to see these amazing floats. It is
unique in that it is one of the few, and the only major,
festival without a religious origin. Aimee and I had the
opportunity to dance in the festival shouting Rassara!
Rassara! at the top of our lungs while being drenched in
a monsoon! |
| Neputa
is very similar to Nebuta, but it is a lot quieter
(Nebuta is a loud dancing mad house). The floats are not
3-D but fan shaped, but still made of paper stretched
over a wooden frame. As soon as night comes they are lit
up and pulled by a team of a dozen people down Dotemachi
avenue. |
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These are the Yukatas
we wore while dancing in the Nebuta festival. A Yukata is
kind of like a summer Kimono, and is made of cotton
instead of silk. Since ours were donated to us by a
government agency, they have the shape of our prefecture
on them. Hence the big silhouette of Aomori on Aimee's
forehead. We had bells, like the one's on her waist
pinned to us to jingle while we danced. We would rip them
off and hand them to people as we danced by, for good
luck. Nothing funnier than watching two elderly ladies
duke it out over a silver bell. |
| We were
in Aomori for 3 days when we saw this guy being pulled in
the Neputa parade. After the initial shock, we realized
that no, this isn't a giant swastika, it's facing the
opposite direction. In fact, this is a Buddhist symbol
which was being used several centuries before Hitler was
even a speck in his mother's eye. It is also the symbol
for the Meiji era of Japan, a time in which Hirosaki was
at a cultural and political high. The Manji is on our
street signs and manhole covers as well, as it is the
symbol of Hirosaki city. |
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