Best itinerary to enjoy Tohoku’s major festivals in One Week

Aomori Nebuta

Summer is the season for festivals, and festivals are held in many places in Japan. I have been to all three of the Tohoku region’s major festivals. The dates for all three festivals are set every year, so you can visit them just by following the dates I did. Read this article to make the best memories of your summer vacation!


What are the Three Major Tohoku Festivals?

First of all, let’s explain what the Tohoku Big Three Festivals are. The Tohoku Big Three Festivals mainly refer to the following three festivals.

① Aomori Nebuta Festival

② Akita Kanto Festival

③ Sendai Tanabata Festival

There are other famous summer festivals in Iwate and Yamagata prefectures in the Tohoku region, but these three are the three biggest festivals. From here, I will introduce each festival along with the dates when I actually visited them.


Day 1: August 4th Akita Kanto Festival

Akita

Schedule

Morning: Fly to the area

Afternoon: Sightseeing in Akita

Evening: Akita Kanto Festival

On the first day of the trip, we flew from Akita Airport in the morning and enjoyed sightseeing in Akita during the day.

For a detailed sample itinerary, please see here.


In the evening, I enjoyed the Akita Kanto Festival.

the Akita Kanto Festival

The Akita Kanto Festival is a festival that lights up the night with many lanterns attached to poles called Kanto.

The overview is as follows.

Dates:
August 3rd to 6th

Location:
Kanto Boulevard, Akita City, Akita Prefecture

Content:
Watch the Kanto festival being supported

Fee:
Free (paid seats available)

The sight of these lanterns lined up in a row along the street was truly fantastical. Amazingly, the largest lanterns can weigh up to 50kg, yet they are lifted by a single person. Moreover, instead of supporting them with both hands, they are displayed as impressive feats of skill, resting them on the palms of the hands, shoulders, foreheads, and hips.

For more details, please click here.



Day 2: August 5th Hirosaki Neputa Festival

Hirosaki Castle

Schedule

Morning: Travel by train

Afternoon: Sightseeing in Hirosaki

Evening: Neputa Festival

On the second day, I took the JR Ou Main Line to Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture. The Nebuta Festival is actually held all over Aomori Prefecture, but three cities are particularly famous. So, from here, I visited those three Nebuta Festivals over the next three days. During the day, I went sightseeing in Hirosaki, which was fun because there were lots of things to see, such as retro buildings and apple pie.

For more information, please click here.


In the evening, we went to see the Neputa Festival held in the city.

Hirosaki Neputa

Neputa are giant fan-shaped floats with pictures painted on them that are paraded through the town. People often confuse Nebuta with Neputa, but they are called different names depending on the city in which they are held.

The outline is as follows:

Dates:
August 1st to 7th

Location:

Hirosaki City

Contents:

Watching the Neputa parade

Fee:

Free (paid seats available)

I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Neputa, the passionate chants, and the impressive pictures on them.

For more details and to find a spot, please click here.


Day 3: August 6th Goshogawara Tachineputa Festival

Schedule

Morning: Sightseeing in Hirosaki

Afternoon: Sightseeing in Goshogawara

Evening: Tachineputa Festival

On the third day, I spent the morning touring the tourist spots in Hirosaki that I hadn’t been able to see the day before, and then took the JR Ou Main Line to Goshogawara in the afternoon.

I stayed overnight in Hirosaki City, and went to Goshogawara for a day trip. Please note that transportation IC cards such as Suica are not accepted, so you will need to buy a ticket from a ticket machine. It is especially crowded on the way back, so it is a good idea to buy a ticket for the return trip in advance.

There aren’t many tourist spots in Goshogawara, so I visited the Tachineputa Museum.

the Tachineputa Museum


Then, the Tachineputa parade began at night.

Tachineputa Yama

The most distinctive feature is, as you can see, its size. As you can see, they are also distinctive in that they stand upright, with the largest one standing at 23m in height, creating an impressive presence, as if a giant was parading through the town. There are only three of these large Tachineputa, and this was the last to appear. It comes out from the Tachineputa Museum where it is kept, so if you are nearby you can see it early.

An overview of the festival is as follows:

Dates:
August 4th to 8th

Location:
Goshogawara City

Contents:
Watching the Neputa parade

Fee:
Free (paid seats available)

The last train from Goshogawara to Hirosaki leaves around 9 pm, so I was prepared to cut my trip short, but since I was watching the parade very close to the Tachineputa Museum, I was able to finish watching everything by 8 pm and get home earlier than expected. So it’s perfectly possible to join the parade from Hirosaki as a day trip.


Day 4: August 7th Aomori Nebuta Festival

Nebuta House Wa Rasse

Schedule

Morning: Travel by train

Afternoon: Nebuta Festival + sightseeing

Evening: Nebuta Festival

On the last day of the Aomori Three Big Nebuta Festival, I went to Aomori City. In the morning, I took the JR Ou Main Line to Aomori Station and went to a famous restaurant serving the specialty miso curry milk ramen.

the specialty miso curry milk ramen

Although I had to wait for over an hour up a narrow staircase in the heat of midsummer, the balance of the three flavours was exquisite and it was very delicious.

After lunch I went to see the Nebuta Festival.

Aomori Nebuta Festival Daytime Operation

This festival is so well-known and popular that when people talk about the Nebuta Festival, they are often referring to the Nebuta Festival in Aomori City. Normally, like the other two cities, it is held at night, but the schedule is different on the final day, August 7th, when it is held during the day. As it was during the day on a weekday, there were plenty of places to sit in the shade, so I was able to relax and enjoy the cool weather.

The outline of the Nebuta Festival is as follows:

Dates:
August 2nd – 7th
(daytime operation on the 7th only + night sea operation)

Location:
Aomori City

Contents:
Watching the Neputa parade

Fee:
Free (paid seats available)

Unlike the Neputa in Hirosaki and Goshogawara, it is wide and three-dimensional, and its overwhelming presence is unlike any other, filling the entire field of vision. Since it was daytime, it was rare to be able to see the original colors, unlike the lit-up ones.

After the Nebuta parade, we went sightseeing in Aomori city. There were also facilities related to Nebuta, so we were able to learn more about it.


Then in the evening, a fireworks display was held. Moreover, it is a rare event that can only be seen on the last day, where the Nebuta floats are floated on a boat. However, even though I went to the seaside park a few hours before the start, there were already no spots available, so in the end, I could only vaguely see the Nebuta floating on the sea.

Nebuta on the Sea

The light on the bottom right is a floating Nebuta float. I regretted not taking a paid seat.

However, this park has a Nebuta production studio and I was able to see the completed Nebuta.

Nebuta display

It was lit up and it was stationary so I could take my time looking at it, which I enjoyed more.

Here is the shot I managed to capture of the Nebuta and fireworks together.

A photo of Nebuta and fireworks

The two-shot with the Nebuta at the production facility was the clearest.


Day 5: August 8th Sendai Tanabata Festival

Statue of Date Masamune

Schedule

Morning: Travel by train

Afternoon: Tanabata Festival + sightseeing

Evening: Sightseeing

On this day, I took the Shinkansen from Shin-Aomori Station to Sendai. I arrived before noon, so after having lunch, I went to see the Tanabata Festival.

the Tanabata Festival

The Tanabata Festival in Sendai is a festival where we can look around at the Tanabata decorations displayed in the arcades of the shopping district. Unlike the festivals in Akita and Aomori, this is a festival where we can look around freely all day, so we can enjoy it at our own pace.

Dates:
August 6th – 8th

Location:
Shopping streets in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture

Content:
Viewing Tanabata decorations

Fee:
Free

Tanabata decorations are made by each shop in the shopping district, so each one has a different design, and each shopping district is awarded a prize, such as a gold medal. Some of the decorations are collaborations with anime and other themes. The main decorations are called “Fukinagashi,” but there are six other types of Tanabata decorations on display.

For more information, please click here.


After a few hours of admiring the Tanabata decorations, we went sightseeing in Sendai.


In the evening, there were Tanabata-only events such as the illumination of Zuihoden and a concert.

Zuihoden illuminated


Day 6: August 9th Matsushima Sightseeing

Matsushima

Schedule

Morning: Sightseeing in Matsushima

Afternoon: Sightseeing in Matsushima

Evening: Fly home

On the last day of the trip, I went to Matsushima, one of the Three Most Scenic Places in Japan, in the morning. It was about 30 minutes by train from Sendai, so it was a perfect day trip. I took a boat to visit the famous islands and temples. I returned to Sendai in the afternoon, picked up my luggage at the hotel, and took an evening flight from the airport to go home.


Summary

That’s the content of the trip I actually took to see the three major Tohoku festivals. If you go on these dates, you can go to all of these festivals, so please try it out. However, hotels fill up quickly. When I went, it was the end of April and there were no vacancies in any town. So make sure to book a hotel early.


For more travel information, click here!

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