Hirosaki Neputa Festival ()
Aomori Prefecture, located at the northern tip of Japan’s main island of Honshu, is famous for its natural beauty, and delicious food. Apples are its most famous export, but garlic, scallops and squid are also in plentiful supply in Aomori. All are used in the amazing local cuisine, making the Aomori experience a delicious escape. Beyond food, the prefecture has many attractions throughout the year to keep you well-fed and entertained.
Aomori’s special festivals
During a recent visit, I was able to attend three of Japan’s most renown festivals, Nebuta in Aomori City, Neputa in Hirosaki and Tachi-Neputa in Goshogawara. Each has its own dazzling display of illuminated motion and sound, floats of various shapes and sizes depicting ancient mythological stories of both Chinese and Japanese origin.
Hirosaki’s Neputa, with over 300 years of history, is the oldest of the three. Aomori City’s Nebuta is a more recent development and is the most commercial of these spectacular illuminated float festivals. Many of the dashi, or floats, in the Nebuta Festival are commercially sponsored by banks, major corporations and other institutions. If you miss these festivals during your visit, both Hirosaki and Aomori City have museums dedicated to the history of the festivals with extensive displays of the floats.
Goshogawara’s Tachi-Neputa, or standing Neputa festival, is truly spectacular. Like the Hirosaki Neputa, this too is entirely run by volunteer teams. Tachi-Neputa floats are 23 meters or 103.5 feet tall, requiring a team of 50 to maneuver these glowing towers through the streets of Goshogawara. Unlike most Japanese cities and towns, the electrical lines of Goshogawara are purposely submerged beneath the street surface. This is to ensure the Tachi-Neputa dashi have clear passage as they wind their way along the parade route every year.
Though Hachinohe’s Sansha festival did not happen in 2022, I was fortunate enough to see one of its floats on display at the Aomori Jyu-Shi Matsuri, or 10 City Festival. A sampling of floats and/or performers from the 10 major cities of Aomori Prefecture can be seen closeup in a single venue. This festival’s venue changes yearly with a decade-long rotation. I therefore was quite lucky to see this festival just outside the main gate of Misawa Air Base during a regularly scheduled TDY.
Great outdoors and great onsen
Aomori also has some of Japan’s most beautiful nature spots. One of these is the Oirase Kyookoku or Oirase Gorge, located less than an hour drive from Misawa Air Base. Its rambling river is a beautiful get-away spot year-round but is spectacular when fall hits peak colors.
The prefecture is also home to many onsen hot springs that are as relaxing for visitors’ wallets as they are for their bodies. Misawa alone, for example, has 10 onsens within its city limits each only charging a mere 350 yen or $2.50 for a relaxing time at the spa. Soap, shampoo, and towels are additionally charged so be sure to BYOS (bring your own stuff). In the winter months, don’t miss soaking in the rotenburo, outside baths, at many of the local onsen like Hirahata Onsen, which is outside Misawa’s Falcon Gate. Soaking in the hot springs with the snow falling is truly fantastic.
Sites for the eyes
One of my favorite Shinto shrines, Takayama Inari Jinja, in Aomori’s Tsugaru region, is within a stone’s throw of Shariki Base. With nearly 1,000 bright orange torii gates laid out in the shape of a dragon, this shrine is a sight to behold.
Another site to behold is the famous tambo, or rice paddy art. Every year the Aomori locals painstakingly plant the rice paddies in order to appear as famous works of art or historic scenes. During previous visits, I’ve caught the rice paddy rendition of the Mona Lisa, and recreations of Yayoi and Jomon Period hunting scenes. In the past, paddy art has included scenes from Star Wars and other modern works.
Plenty of museums
After spending time outdoors, head inside any of the prefectures many museums. The Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art displays traditional pottery, lacquerware and wood block prints. For modern art, plan a trip to the Hirosaki Art Museum. History buffs will enjoy strolling the Sannai-Maruyama Archeological Site, which was recently designated a UNESCO site. The Jomon Period site dates back to between 3900-2200 BCE. You can actually see archeologists at work and enter the living site’s original buildings to see how the inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago used to live.
For aviation enthusiasts, the Misawa Aviation and Science Museum is the place to go. Here, Miss Veedol, the first plane to successfully cross the Pacific, is on display among other interactive displays, including a flight simulator and a zero-gravity experience. Should your group feel hungry during your visit, be sure to grab one of Aomori’s best hot-dogs at Jack & Betty’s inside the museum, which is managed by Misawa Sky Plaza, a great shopping venue just outside the Misawa Air Base main gate.
Savor the local fare
On the epicurean side, Aomori has local palette-pleasing cuisine. Specialties include ika katsu dango (fried minced squid balls), kuraniniku (blackened garlic), hotate (scallops), Misawa’s original barayaki (hotplate mix of beef and caramelized onions) which can be enjoyed Fridays through Mondays at Aka Noren, just outside the base’s main gate, and of course apples used in all forms.
Sample apple brandy, a specialty drink, at the Sun Apple Mohodori Distillery just across the street from the Tachi-Neputa Museum in Goshogawara. Mohodori’s brewmeister, Naoya Yoshioka, was trained in Washington state. To make the brandy, only the top-quality apples are used. The remaining apples processed at the distillery are used to make some of the best apple juice I have ever tried. Tastings are available on site.
Visitors to Aomori have many activities and delicious delicacies to choose from and make your experience as Aomori as apple pie.
I would like to extend a thank you to Ms. Misa Hirayama, Ms. Emily Chen and Mr. Takeshi “Andy” Isobe of the Aomori Tourist Bureau for planning my Aomori adventure so well. Also, thank you to Mr. Qiao Wang of Misawa’s own Aomoriya Resort, which is next to Misawa Station and has grounds that are a sight to behold.
