• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Tourism
    • Castle
    • Cruise
    • Culture
    • Festival
    • Heritage
    • Museum
    • Nature
    • Onsen
    • Other
    • Park and Garden
    • Shrines and temples
    • Unique
    • Zoo and Aquarium
  • Experience
    • Cosplay
    • Create
  • Amusement park
  • Groumet
    • Drink
    • Local
    • Ramen
    • Sushi
    • Yakiniku
  • Hotel
    • Cheap
    • Gorgeous
    • Funny
  • Shopping
    • Appliance
    • Brand item
    • Geek
    • Souvenir

Fantastic places in cool Japan

Introduction of Japanese tourism, gourmet, shopping, experience, and etc. by diversity-finder.

  • Tokyo
  • Kyoto
  • Osaka
  • Hokkaido
  • Okinawa
You are here: Home / Tourism / Festival / Hanawa Neputa, Akita

Hanawa Neputa, Akita

By finder Leave a Comment

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

There are still many traditional summer festivals around Akita. Some events are also registered as national important intangible folk cultural properties and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Various traditional cultures such as Bon Odori, Mikoshi (portable shrine), festival car, and music remain, and there are many attractive summer festivals.
The Tanabata event (preserved by the Hanawa Bayashi Festival Committee), which is held from August 7 to 8 every year in the Hanawa, Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture from the end of the Edo period, is “Hanawa Neputa”.
Hanawa Neputa is an event that has been around since the end of the Edo period. “Large Lantern of ‘Osho’ (King)”, which is a beautifully colored drawing of a warrior figure that is more than 5 meters in height in the shape of a shogi piece, passes along the street with a large drum of 2 meters in diameter. At night, a brightly colored neputa lights up and shines in the night sky, showing a beautiful sight.
On the last night of the festival, there are spectacular views of the over 10 large lanterns from each district gathering on the riverside of the Yoneshiro River, and when the night sky covers the riverside, the fire is lit. The gorgeous fire is reflected on the surface of the river and beautiful, and at the same time fireworks are launched to mark the end of the festival.
“Large Lantern of ‘Osho’ (King)” is written large character of “King” in front, “Star Festival” on the right side, “Milky Way” on the left side, and is heroic “warrior picture” on the back, it is a traditional style.
A large drum (a cowhide barrel drum) is struck by two people on one side with a large repellent effect in both hands. The traditional songs are “Tanabata” and “Onosaka”, and the sound of the drum is said to reverberate in all directions.
On the night of August 7, there will be an “Ekimae Parade”, “Osho Competition”, and a parade towards Red Torii. On the night of August 8th, there will be a parade towards Inamura Bridge, and the main highlight of Hanawa Neputa, ‘nemuri nagashi’ will be held.

“Nemuri Nagashi” burning the lanterns is the biggest viewpoint

Hanawa Neputa is a Tanabata event (a seasonal festival called the Star Festival in Japan) that takes place on the 7th and 8th August every year from the end of the Edo era in the Hanawa region. The main point of this event are Osho-Toro (lanterns shaped like shogi piece) about 5 meters in height which shaped a piece of shogi and a big drum with a diameter of 2 meters. They strike the big drum and go around the town according to the music. On the final day, the fire burns all at once into lanterns lining up in the Inamura Bridge across the Yoneshiro River. This “Nemuri Nagashi” burning the lanterns is the biggest viewpoint of Hanawa Neputa.

livedoor.blogimg.jp

This district’s unique Tanabata Matsuri (Star Festival)

The unique rhythm of the big drum echoes in summer nights of Kazuno town Hanawa area. During the 2 days of August 7th and 8th, the big lantern and the big drum will walk through the town while letting the distinctive music accompanied by the whistle. This district’s unique Tanabata Matsuri Festival is this “Hanawa Neputa”.

hanawabayashi.jp

There seem to be various opinions of its origin

The origin of Hanawa Neputa is not certain. This is said to have been done since the end of the Edo era, the theory originated from “Neburi Nagashi” (an event that banishes one’s sleepiness) or “Mushiokuri” (making a torch procession to drive away crop – eating insects) , there seem to be various opinions.

akitafan.com

Unique picturesque lantern in this region that can not be seen elsewhere

The picture lanterns with a height of 4 meters in the shape of a piece of shogi are called “Ote”, and while striking the big drum of 2 meters in diameter which is carried on the cart, it walks around the town. On the front of Ote, the letters of “Osho” (kingship), the left side is “Amanogawa” (Milky Way), the right side is marked as “Tanabata Matsuri” (Star Festival), and on the back is “Musha-e” (Ukiyo-e prints of warriors) on the back. It is a unique picturesque lantern in this region that can not be seen elsewhere.

akitafan.com

Large-scale fireworks festival that burns the night sky

The most interesting point is “Nemuri Nagashi” which Osho Lantern walking around the town is aligned with the Inamura Bridge and flushed all at once. At the same time big drum is beaten and fireworks are launched. You can enjoy “fantasy of the warrior picture swaying in the darkness” and “sound of the big drum trembling in the town”, and a large-scale fireworks festival that burns the night sky.

kazuno-iine.com

Information(Access, Price/Charge, Tel, Address, Official site, etc.)

Name:Hanawa Neputa
Address:Kazuno, Akita 018-5200 Japan
Access:JR Hanawa-sen Line “Kazunohanawa-eki Station” (10 minutes walk)
Tel:(+81) 186-30-0500 (Hanawa Bayashi Festival Committee)
Price/Charge:Free
Official site:http://hanawabayashi.jp/

Filed Under: Festival, Tourism Tagged With: Akita

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us Online

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Thanks for subscribing to our channel!

Recent Posts

Hitsujiyama Park, Saitama

One of the best "Notable Sites for Shibazakura" the Kanto region Shibazakura … [Read More...] about Hitsujiyama Park, Saitama

Teradaya, Kyoto

The building also has a unique taste and is a popular tourist … [Read More...] about Teradaya, Kyoto

Matsushima, Miyagi

The contrast of the blue of the sea and the green of the island are … [Read More...] about Matsushima, Miyagi

  • Hita Gion Matsuri Festival, Oita
  • Iizaka Kenka Matsuri (Fight Festival), Fukushima
  • Kiyosumi Teien (Japanese Gardens), Tokyo

Tags

Aichi Akita Aomori Chiba Ehime Fukui Fukuoka Fukushima Gifu Gunma Hiroshima Hokkaido Hyogo Ibaraki Ishikawa Iwate Kagoshima Kanagawa Kumamoto Kyoto Mie Miyagi Nagano Nagasaki Nara Nature Niigata Oita Okayama Okinawa Osaka Saga Saitama Shiga Shimane Shizuoka Temple Tochigi Tokushima Tokyo Toyama Wakayama Yamagata Yamaguchi Yamanashi

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Footer

Newsletter

Copyright © 2025 · Fantastic places in cool Japan by diversity-finder.net