Kuroishi Neputa Matsuri is a Japanese festival in the small town of Kuroishi in the Aomori prefecture in the northern Japanese region called Tohoku. For the festival, the people of Kuroishi make floats of washi - japanese paper - and paint them with scenes from Japanese and Chinese history and legends. The floats are illuminated from within so it makes for some beautiful artwork.
The festival derives from the larger Neputa/Nebuta festivals of Aomori City and Hirosaki which goes back centuries. No one is quite sure of the origin of this festival. Some say it's a victory celebration of an old samurai general over the local inhabitants while others say it comes from farmers as a means of warding off the sleepiness that comes in summer.
TIME: First Week of August - evening time around 6-7
LOCATION: Kuroishi, Aomori Prefecture, Tohoku
GETTING THERE: Konan Train from Hirosaki (30 mins)
A scene from the Chinese tale "The Three Kingdoms"
The Hero Minamoto no Yoshitune with his mythical trainers
the Tengu
Tengu are Japanese Goblins who help or trick humans
Date Masamune - 16th Century warlord of the Tohoku Region
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