The Nebuta matsuri (ねぶた祭) is a type of Tanabata
festival held on August 2-7 every year. It is a type of
parade with ginormous lantern floats. The largest of this
type of festivity is in Aomori City where they attract
millions of spectators over the course of the festival.
Nebuta matsuri is one of the most colorful festivals in
Japan. The themes of the floats are centered on folklore
and myths. The floats are made of wire frames instead
of bamboo and are illuminated with led lights. It usually
takes 1 year to construct one of these floats and many of
them are sponsored by companies. The maximum size of
these lantern floats is 9 meters in width, 5 meters in
height and 7 meters in depth. The reason is that the
parade route goes through areas with telephone lines
and other hanging materials, which puts a limit on the
height.
The best part of the Nebuta matsuri is that anyone can
participate in the parade as a haneto dancer and chant
“rassera, rassera” as long as they wear the proper
clothing, which can be bought at any grocery store for
5000 yen or rented for 3000 yen. The setup of each float
group goes with the haneto first, then the fan bearer who
directs the Nebuta (float) to make it come alive, the hikite
who move the float and the hayashi who are the
musicians that play taiko drums, the flute and hand
cymbals to match the theme of the float. There are
awards given for a variety of categories, but the top three
floats will be put on a ship on the last day and paraded
around the bay. From August 2 to 3 there are small floats
a few of the large ones. It is from August 4 to 6 that the
festival hits its full swing, but the last day the floats will
only appear in the day time.
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