[Tohoku Six Prefectures] Enjoy Tohoku's summer festivals to the fullest! ～Summer Festival Complete Guide～

At this time of year, when summer is in full swing, I think of summer festivals...

Due to movement restrictions and self-restraint due to the coronavirus pandemic, most places that have refrained from holding summer festivals in recent years will be holding full-scale summer festivals this year, so I'm sure many people are looking to enjoy their first summer festival in a while.

This time, we will introduce information on Tohoku's summer festivals and a complete guide to enjoy Tohoku's summer festivals all at once.

Tohoku summer festival information

in the Tohoku region : the Aomori Nebuta Festival (Aomori Prefecture), the Akita Kanto Festival (Akita Prefecture), and the Sendai Tanabata Festival (Miyagi Prefecture) .

The three major festivals listed above nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties , and are very famous nationwide.

one of the above three major festivals, ``Yamagata Hanagasa Festival (Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture)'' to the ``Tohoku Four Great Festivals,' ' and adding ``Morioka Sansa Odori (Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture)'' to the ``Tohoku Five Great Festivals.'' " It has been with.

However, there are various opinions regarding the Tohoku four and five major festivals, such as ``Fukushima Waraji Festival (Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture)'', ``Goshogawara Tachibuta (Goshogawara City, Aomori Prefecture)'', and ``Koriyama Uneme Festival (Fukushima Prefecture)''. Koriyama City)” is missing! Please refer to the four and five major festivals above for reference as there are opinions depending on each region.

Anyway, summer festivals in Tohoku are concentrated from late July to early August , so I want to go to those too! I want to see this too! This is something I worry about every year.

First, I would like to introduce the schedule of the Tohoku Summer Festival.

In 2023, 11 days will pass at a rapid pace, from Soma Nomaoi in Fukushima Prefecture to Sendai Tanabata Festival in Miyagi Prefecture.

If the festival itself lasts for several days, it may be easier to organize the schedule, but the Nightless Castle in the Sky is a 2-day event, while the Soma Nomaoi, Koriyama Uneme Festival, Fukushima Waraji Festival, Yamagata Hanagasa Festival, and Sendai Tanabata Festival are a 3-day event. It is being held.

It looks like it's going to be a bit of a difficult schedule to look around in a hurry.

Why are summer festivals in Tohoku concentrated in early August?

As the summer festival dates are listed above, are concentrated from late July to early August

Have you ever wondered, “Why?”

There are various theories about this, but it is believed that wind and flood damage and illness during the summer are the work of evil spirits, and the origin of the summer festival is that people carry portable shrines with deities on them, walk through the city to purify themselves, and pray for a bumper harvest in the fall. It was said that.

so it is a characteristic of each Tohoku region that summer festivals are held at times when they are not affected by agricultural work or the seasons

This is the recommended summer festival complete route!

To be honest, I think it would be physically difficult to visit all of them.

but,

This time, we will introduce two routes: Northern Tohoku and Northern Tohoku.

Northern Tohoku Route

7/31 Hachinohe Sansha Festival (Aomori/Hachinohe) → 8/1 Morioka Sansa Odori (Iwate/Morioka) → 8/2 Hirosaki Neputa Festival (Aomori/Hirosaki) → 8/3 Nightless Castle in the Sky (Akita/Noshiro) → 8/4 Akita Kanto Festival (Akita, Akita) → 8/5 Aomori Nebuta Festival (Aomori, Aomori)

The event will start from the Hachinohe Sanja Taisai Festival

One day at a time, the festival will visit Morioka, Hirosaki, Noshiro, and Akita, and the final Aomori Nebutama Festival will be held on August 5th.

You will be traveling around northern Tohoku, but you will be able to complete all of the summer festivals in northern Tohoku.

However, this year's summer festivals in Tohoku are mostly held on weekdays , so if you only have weekends off, it seems like you'll have no choice but to concentrate on Hirosaki Nebuta Festival, Aomori Nebuta Festival, and Akita Kanto Festival.

Tohoku route

7/29 Soma Nomaoi (Fukushima Prefecture, Soma City) → 8/3 Koriyama Uneme Festival (Fukushima, Koriyama) → 8/4 Fukushima Waraji Festival (Fukushima, Fukushima) → 8/5 Yamagata Hanagasa Festival (Yamagata, Yamagata) → 8/6 Sendai Tanabata Festival (Miyagi/Sendai)

The start is Soma Nomaoi on July 29th , but in the case of Tohoku, there is time until the Koriyama Uneme Festival, which is also held in Fukushima Prefecture, followed by the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival and the Sendai Tanabata Festival.

Tohoku has festivals every weekend , so if you can't take a day off during the week, you'll likely end up watching the Tanabata decorations on Sunday night.

In addition, fireworks will be set off in Sendai city on August 5th, the day before the Sendai Tanabata Festival, so if you are looking for fireworks, you should spend the night of August 5th in Sendai, → 8/4 Fukushima Waraji Festival → 8/4 There is also a course called 5 Sendai Tanabata Festival → 8/7 Yamagata Hanagasa Festival

It is important to check summer festival information in advance.

We've introduced some pretty tough routes that can be completed, but let's decide on a route based on actual information.

Summer festivals are outdoor events, and this year's heat is predicted to be even hotter than usual, so be sure to take precautions against heat stroke

In addition, despite the record-breaking heavy rains that hit Akita Prefecture in July this year, the that ``preparations are underway to hold the festival as scheduled.'' Therefore, please check the official website below frequently until the event.

summary

A quick introduction to the 2023 Tohoku summer festival.

Summer in Tohoku is short.

Summer festivals are held to enjoy the short summer to the fullest. It may be impossible to enjoy all of the summer festivals packed into a short period of time, but don't you want to enjoy them as much as possible?

I hope you all have a lot of fun at the summer festival for the first time in several years.