Hirosaki Neputa Festival

Hirosaki’s Neputa festival brings Tsugaru’s summer nights into brilliant color, a parade marching through the old castle town with magnificent Neputa floats depicting heroic scenes from tales like the Annals of the 3 Kingdoms or The Water Margin. Modern Neputa floats are varied, complex affairs, with children’s Neputa or garden lantern styles; mystical fan-shaped Ohgi Neputa with contrasting “kagami-e” (front) heroes and graceful “miokuri” (back) pictures; and the traditional, extravagant Kumi Neputa, all carried through the streets by locals to the sound of flutes and taiko playing Neputa music.