A short documentary of Tachineputa in Aomori Japan｜第一视角感受 2024年日本五所川原巨型睡魔夏日祭
In June 2024, I was fortunate enough to secure highly sought-after accommodation in Goshogawara City during the early August Neputa Festival. This led me to change our original Kansai tour plans with my parents to a self-driving trip to northeastern Japan. (I felt particularly lucky to find a newly listed Airbnb in this small town with very few hotels.) While I expected this journey would be different from my usual Tokyo trips, I didn’t anticipate how impactful and memorable it would become.
I had always been particularly interested in the Aomori Neputa Festival. Aomori, located at the northernmost tip of Japan’s main island, holds a week-long summer festival in early August to ward off ‘Neputa’ (sleep demons) that might interfere with farmers’ summer work. During this week, each city in Aomori Prefecture showcases newly created lantern floats, each with distinct characteristics. Aomori’s are human-shaped and flat (with large surface areas); Hirosaki’s are fan-shaped; while Goshogawara’s Tachineputa are the tallest and most impressive. Goshogawara consistently maintains three Tachineputa: the current year’s new creation, last year’s, and the previous year’s, while dismantling the oldest one.
At Goshogawara’s annual Tachineputa Festival, smaller and medium-sized floats lead the way, followed by three massive 23-meter-tall paper lantern floats. These lanterns are carried by villagers of all ages – children, youth, middle-aged, and elderly people – maintaining their tradition. The parade proceeds in an orderly fashion amid rhythmic chants. Watching the giant lanterns emerge from storage was incredibly overwhelming in person – far more spectacular than any photograph could capture. As they slowly moved through the streets, they appeared like giant creatures, their upper halves visible above the rooftops, creating an imposing presence. The 2024 Tachineputa theme was Enma, the Buddhist King of Hell, depicting the scene where he uses a mirror to reflect and judge the deeds of the deceased.
While editing this video, I did some research and discovered that Tachineputa flourished due to Goshogawara’s advantageous coastal trading position. The tradition had nearly vanished due to technological developments (new power lines made it difficult for tall floats to parade), war, post-war fires that destroyed design materials, the burst of the economic bubble, local economic decline, and aging population. However, in 1993, someone discovered their grandfather’s float base design drawings. By 1996, funding and technical support were secured, and volunteers reconstructed a Tachineputa. Following ancient custom, this float was burned a week after the ceremony as a tribute to precious memories (very anime-like scene!). In 1998, the city government completed the project of removing and burying power lines along the parade route. Since 1999, a new large Tachineputa has been created annually, while an old one is dismantled.
I’m amazed by how the local government prioritized reviving this traditional culture. It’s remarkable how such a small city efficiently advanced urban planning for the sake of cultural preservation, reclaiming this historical practice in just five years through government efforts and local support.
According to the website, the lastest three floats were designed and created by the same person, with a year-long design and production cycle.
Tachineputa are built and stored in a museum. The official website reveals that visitors can typically participate in creating that year’s Tachineputa. However, due to major renovations at the Tachineputa Museum in 2025, no new Neputa will be manufactured, so this year’s festival will display last year’s three floats, and both the participatory creation activities and regular museum visits will be suspended.
Video filming, editing, production, photography and design: Mia Zhu
Research: Mia Zhu
Reference：
https://www.tachineputa.jp/index.php
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15378249