ねぶた、たちねぷた：Nebuta and Tachineputa (part 2)

It's snowing again in Hirosaki, so it must be time to finish reminiscing about summertime...
(Part 1 can be read here)

Night #4 - Hirosaki Neputa

After pulling the Odaiko again in the third night of the Hirosaki Neputa festival, we came back as spectators for the fourth night. All the side streets connected to Dotemachi street were closed for the parade, so spectators could sit in the intersections to watch. We pulled out the leisure sheet one more time and set up at the intersection near Asahi Bowl.

The parade starts with Hirosaki's "Miss Sakura" 

Followed closely by the Odaiko crew

Odaiko moves through the intersection, with six drummers on top

Kumamon made an appearance, showing Hirosaki's solidarity with Kumamoto after May's earthquakes there

Not all the floats are on wheels- some are carried on shoulders (or overhead if you're feeling energetic)

Monkey on the float (2016 is the Year of the Monkey)

Fierce warriors and... salamanders?

I enjoyed watching the parade almost as much as participating in it, although it was a very different experience. On the night we watched, we were in a larger group of ALTs sitting all together. We were no doubt the largest gathering of foreigners that night, probably upwards of twenty attendees, and we drew the attention of many groups marching in the parade, which was both fun and a bit awkward.

Night #5 - Jumping in Aomori City's Nebuta

Last year, I arrived in Hirosaki on August 5th and didn't have a chance to go up to Aomori City to see the Nebuta Festival there. This year I decided to go up on the night when JETs and other English teachers from around the prefecture were planning to join the parade as haneto, or dancers. In a custom particular to Aomori City's Nebuta, anyone who wears the costume of a haneto can "jump" in the parade. It costs about 5000 yen to buy a costume, or about 2500 yen to rent one for the night, so I made a reservation to rent one.  Rental includes a free dressing service- it is hard to put these costumes on yourself!

Ran into my friend Andrew at the haneto outfit rental space

Out on the street with Stefan and Alex

Our crew before the parade (Photo credit to someone who is not me...)

As for jumping in the parade- well, that was an experience. Our group of nearly 50 would-be haneto disintegrated pretty quickly as soon as we ducked under the ropes that parade organizers were using to separate the masses of haneto from the more official participants like taiko groups and the actual Nebuta floats. The typical Japanese group-behavior rule book was apparently out the window as small groups of young haneto pushed, ran, screamed and even moshed amidst the larger crowd (at least a few of the moshers were ejected from the parade by the organizers, which I appreciated a lot). It was damn hot in the jumping crowd- the atmospheric heat, combined with body heat and the heat of the spotlights and portable generators, was close to unbearable, and cooling breezes were few and brief. My feet and ankles were stomped on more than a few times, and I definitely stepped on a few strangers' toes myself.

The one Nebuta float I saw, as we rushed past looking for a group of haneto to join

The rest of the night pretty much looked like this, from the inside

I brought my camera into the parade, although it was kind of silly in retrospect. It was all but impossible to take pictures with all the movement and shoving, and somewhere in all the jumping I lost the factory lens hood, although I guess I'm glad I didn't lose the lens cap, or for that matter the lens. There wasn't much to take a picture of anyway- only the backs of the people right in front of me.

I did enjoy the experience for its uniqueness- I can certainly say I've never seen or done anything like it! I was bummed, however, to miss the floats and other aspects of the parade for the second year running. My main Aomori bucket list item is still to actually see the Aomori Nebuta parade...

Night #6 - Goshogawara Tachineputa Parade

I don't know this for a fact, but I'm pretty sure the kanji for tachi in tachineputa is written as 立, which means "stand" or "standing." This makes sense, because the neputa in Goshogawara's Tachineputa parade are about 60 feet /nearly 20 meters tall. I've been told that the power lines along the circular parade route near the station were put underground to allow these behemoth neputa to move freely. I've also been told that unlike the floats in Hirosaki and Aomori, Goshogowara's huge floats are not destroyed and remade every year, but are reused for a certain number of years and then cycled out for new ones. Which raises the question of where they keep the giant neputa for the rest of the year...

From a distance, it's hard to interpret what your eyes are telling you

Oh, right. It's a 60-foot-tall paper lantern on wheels.

Sometimes the tachineputa is stacked on top of two giant drums

This guy is a little different, battling a five-eyed scorpion monster

This hero is battling some kind of water dragon

Water dragon warrior from the back

As you may have noticed, I have little actual knowledge about the Goshogawara Tachineputa matsuri... which is how I like it, I guess. Tachineputa was the first festival I saw in Japan, about two days after arriving in Hirosaki last year, while I was still deep in jetlag. That time, I got in a ridiculously tiny car belonging to a person I knew not at all (thanks Jackson!), with two other shiny new JETs whom I had never met (hello Stefan and Alex!); was driven on country roads through the rice fields; joined a crowd of strange foreigners amidst an even larger crowd of foreign strangers; and looked up to see a 20 meter tall glowing lantern with a sword-wielding warrior sitting on a peach, made completely of paper, surrounded by drums and flutes. It was a kind of impossible moment, when I had the thought: I don't know where I am, I'm not sure if I can or should believe my eyes, I have no idea what is happening around me, but it is amazing and I think things are going to be okay.

Day #7 - The Final Day

Sunday was the seventh and final day of the Neputa and Nebuta festivals. In Hirosaki on the final day the floats are taken out of town to the area where the Hanabi Taikai was held in June, and are then set on fire. In Aomori City, the floats are taken somewhere on the bay, put into the water and set on fire. After that, there's a big fireworks show.

After a crazy week of festivals every night, and in preparation for early morning departure the next day on my way to the US, I did not attend any of the final day activities, which made me a bit sad. But I got an unexpected treat when a local school group brought their neputa right down my street. I was actually in the middle of my weekly Sunday morning videochat with my family, but when I heard the drum and flute getting closer, I ran out to the balcony to watch. I was so happy to see the little group!

Elementary school kids pulling a neputa float down my street

Drumming and playing cymbals all the way. All the neighbors came out to watch.

That's it for the summer! Up next: a three-day weekend in central Iwate Prefecture.

ねぷた：Neputa Festivals (part 1)

The first week of August is a wild time in Aomori-ken. Aomori City, Hirosaki, Hachinohe, Goshogawara, Kuroishi, and other cities around the prefecture all put on their biggest festivals of the year for the entire week, with exciting and hectic night parades, giant illuminated floats called nebuta or neputa, daytime markets, drum competitions, and a massive influx of tourists. It's impossible to see it all, but it's tempting to try!

For visitors from out of town, it must be a fleeting, ephemeral experience- one or two nights of music, parades, illuminated floats and dancing, then they hop on the train and go home. For the people living here, it's the culmination of an entire summer (or lifetime) of labor, training and preparation. Every year starting in May or June, the floats are designed and built from scratch in huge canvas tents that appear in parks and empty lots around town. Each district's float is built by neighborhood craftspeople and sponsored by local businesses and organizations. Taiko groups practice the Neputa bayashi (the drum and flute song that is unique to the Neputa festival) all year round, but as the weather gets warmer they practice outside, and sometimes I can hear the drumming from my house. There is a building of energy heading up to the actual festival week, and when August arrives it's finally time to party..!

Hirosaki Neputa: drummers playing Neputa Bayashi on the Odaiko (giant drum)

Night #1: Pulling the Odaiko (Giant Drum) in Hirosaki's Neputa Festival

Along with a few friends, I've been practicing with a local taiko group since about October of last year. The biggest event of the year for our group is pulling the Odaiko at the front of the Hirosaki Neputa parade, every night of the first week in August. Experienced drummers take turns drumming the Neputa Bayashi on the Odaiko, with six drummers actually sitting on top of the 15-foot-tall drum, and a line of drummers walking along behind it. The other members of the group take hold of the lead ropes in the front, and pull the Odaiko along the parade route and then back to the storage space afterwards.

Although I didn't do any actual drumming on the Odaiko this year (and that's fine with me!), putting on the hanten (the short jacket worn for special events) and pulling the Odaiko along with everyone else, waving to familiar faces in the crowd and seeing their excitement, was definitely one of the best experiences I've had so far in Japan!

We only planned to pull the Odaiko for the first night, but it was such a thrill, we came back to do it again on the third night of the festival. One note about the pictures here- I didn't take my camera or phone with me in the parade because I was afraid to lose it, so most of the pictures I have of our participation were taken by Hide-san, our head instructor, who walked in front of the group with a megaphone slung over his shoulder, shouting directions and the festival chant "Yaaa yaaa dooooouuuu!"

Alex, Jackson, Stefan and I in our hanten (photo credit: Jackson's friend)

Drummers walk behind the Odaiko in the parade (photo credit: Hide-san)

Jackson's turn drumming on the Odaiko (photo credit: Hide-san)

Stefan's turn to yell "Yaaa Yaaa Doou" (photo credit: Hide-san)

While it was fun to pull the Odaiko down the actual parade route, it was an unexpected thrill to pull it back through the nearly empty streets of Hirosaki to the store house near the park. Each group in the parade takes a different route back to their home base, chanting and drumming on the way, so it's kind of like the parade dissolves back into the city, rather than stopping at the end of the official route.

Our group turned off Dotemachi street on to a part of my usual morning commute. Driving a car and "driving" a giant taiko drum are two very different ways to experience the streetscape! We also pulled the Odaiko through some narrow streets in Kajimachi, the nightlife district, and it was great to see shop staff and patrons spill out of the tiny bars and lean out of upstairs windows to cheer us on our way.

Night #2 - Kuroishi Neputa

On the second night of the festival week, I took a car full of JETs to Kuroishi to watch the night parade there. Our friend Kyoko has a barber shop in Kuroishi close to the start of the parade. She had advised us to try to come early so we could go check out the neputa (parade floats) all gathered in the staging area in the park near her shop.

Neputa staging area in Miyuki Park, with parade crew and spectators milling about

Neputa staging area in Miyuki Park

Neputa staging area in Miyuki Park

Neputa staging area in Miyuki Park

As the official start time for the parade approached, we headed off down the parade route to find a bit of curb to set up our "leisure sheet" (aka: a tarp) and get comfy.

Sitting in front of a flower shop enjoying the parade

In Kuroishi's Neputa parade, the large fan-shaped floats rolled by amidst a swirling crowd of smaller floats, dancers, drummers, and kids, and every now and then one or two marchers carrying huge paper fans would stop and wave a little cooling breeze onto the spectators. Whenever the parade paused for a moment, which it frequently did, the crews of the larger floats grabbed ropes attached to the corners and ran in a circle, causing the fan-shaped part of the float to spin like a top, showing the images on both sides to the spectators.

The parade starts - each neputa has a few riders up on top to yell at the crowd with a megaphone and also fold the top flaps down to fit under low wires

A battle scene is painted on the front, and on the back there is usually a pretty lady

This neputa is in the style of the ones in Aomori City- not fan-shaped, more sculptural, still a battle scene

Still got a pretty lady on the back

Cotton candy sunset as the parade goes on

Playing for applause as the neputa spins

A bubble machine used for great effect

Next up: more Neputa, Nebuta, and Tachineputa

Silver Week

Silver Week!

お久しぶりです. 欠席して,申しわけございません. 

The month of September has flown by. School session officially started in the first week of the month, and I began teaching classes at my base (main) school. Suddenly every day was exhausting- I would get home at 5:30 or 6:00, maybe manage to eat something, and more likely than not fall asleep on top of my bed wearing all my clothes and sometimes my glasses too. I didn’t take any pictures except here and there a bus schedule, a random pretty sunset as I walked home, or some kanji in the grocery store to translate later.

Finally, Silver Week has arrived! What is Silver Week? It’s a week in September where Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are each National Holidays- specifically, Grandparents’ Day (Respect for the Aged Day) on Monday, Autumn Equinox Day on Wednesday, and a “Bridge Holiday” inbetween thanks to Japanese Law.

Here’s an interesting tidbit I just learned: Silver Week does not occur every year, due to the variability of the Equinox- it won’t occur again until 2026! Alas... しょうがない.

By the time I learned about the existence of Silver Week 2015, and thought that I’d like to travel, all the hotels in my intended destination of Hakodate were booked solid. I decided to have a “staycation” and see some of the sights in Hirosaki and nearby.

Aomori City

I did my usual morning procrastination, which allowed me to meet up with some traveling friends for lunch at nearby delicious burger joint Pepe Kitchen. I took the 3:15 train up to Aomori City, which turned out to be a limited express train that I had in my ignorance not bought a limited express ticket to ride. That’s a story for another time. I like to call these daily occurrences “Crimes against harmony” or “Harmony Crimes.” Someday soon I’ll do an entire post about that.

First thing off the train, I walked to Wa Rasse – Nebuta House, the museum for the Aomori City version of the Nebuta Matsuri. The building itself is a large rectangular box, clad in red strips that are twisted and curved in various degrees to create entry points and allow shaded views inside and out. Despite being essentially a big red box, it looks attractive and interesting from pretty much all angles. Between the red metal exterior and the curtain wall that encloses the museum space there is a walking path that goes about three quarters of the way around the building, and it’s fun to slip in and out between the many openings, even if you don’t plan to go into the museum.

Wa Rasse Nebuta House from the train station bike lot

Wa Rasse Nebuta House - from beneath the Bay Bridge

Wa Rasse Nebuta House - exterior detail

Under the skin

Looking out through the cladding

For archinerds: Site visit reports during early stages of Wa Rasse construction

http://frank-la-riviere.com/portfolio/?m=200905

Inside, five or six floats from the previous year’s parade are illuminated in a darkened room, along with huge masks by some current and past Nebuta visionaries, demonstrations of the armature and lighting methods used, and taiko drums which are part of a live demo several times a day.

Inside Wa Rasse Nebuta House - Nerimono (floats) from this year's parade

Sake-flavored gelato in front of A-Factory

After the Nebuta House, I wandered in A-Factory looking at local products, and indulged in some shopping at Muji. I walked around a waterfront park and encountered a stone monument memorializing the destruction of the Aomori-Hokkaido passenger ferry fleet by US forces in July 1945. Aomori City was extensively bombed in late July 1945 as an industrial city, major northern port and population center. It started to rain just as I set out for the final stop on my visit, Aji no Sapporo Onishi. 

Queueing for ramen in the rain

I wasn’t sure if the shop was open, but I was beyond pleased to see a short line out the door of the ramen shop. Always a good sign. Their specialty is miso curry milk ramen, with a pat of butter on top. Definitely worth the trip! 

Hirosaki Temples and Shrines

My usual commute bus takes me past one of the most famous temples in Hirosaki, Saisho-in temple with its five-story pagoda. Every morning and afternoon the bus hooks around the corner in front of the main gate and I think “one of these days I’ll go check that out.”

The five-story pagoda at Saisho-in

Higanbana - "equinox flower," or red spider lilies, on the grounds at Saisho-in

About one minute further up the road, my usual bus hangs a left at the edge of Shinteramachi, which literally translated means “New Temple Town.” During the Edo Period, many Buddhist temples were built here to provide protection for the castle to the north.

Map of Shinteramachi temple district

One of the temples I see from the bus every day

About a five minute walk towards the castle from Shinteramachi is another, older temple district called Zenringai. There are reputedly thirty-three Buddhist temples lining the street, with Choshoji temple at the top of the gentle slope. According to our short guided tour, Choshoji temple was the private temple to the ruling Tsugaru clan, as well as a secondary residence that eventually became their primary residence.

Choshoji Third Gate. Apparently the Second Gate, located down the street, was destroyed by a truck just a week ago, and won't be rebuilt until next summer. What are the chances?

Former Tsugaru clan residence

The visit to Choshoji temple was something of a high point in terms of my Japanese comprehension to date- the guide spoke 99% Japanese, and between the group of us we pretty much understood what she said (with a typewritten English handout to confirm our understanding).

Choshoji also houses the artifacts of the mummy of a young prince, discovered on the grounds of what is today Hirosaki High School. I think the guide said that the land where Hirosaki High School is today, once belonged to a temple and a Tsugaru clan graveyard was relocated from there to the grounds of Choshoji.

On Wednesday I went along to Hirosaki Apple Park- which I'll cover next time.