Goshogawara Tachi Neputa

There are 3 different places (that i am aware of) that celebrate a “Nebuta” kind of matsuri. The one in Aomori City seems to be the most famous one, but Goshogawara and Hirosaki are also worthwhile to see. All 3 of them are said to be very different in character.

The Goshogawara seems to be the most impressive one to me featuring up to 22m tall floats. It is said that the Goshigawara matsuri that happens from the 4th to 8th of August draws up to 1.5 million visitors. But i actually found it not to be as crowded as i thought it would be. There was plenty of place on the streets to watch the procession of the floats and move around.

Transport: 5 minutes on foot from Goshogawara JR Station, Gono Line. The city is closed for traffic during the festival, but parking spots should be available everywhere.

Website: The official website is here and all in Japanese. If you plan to go see the festival then i suggest you book a room in the Sunroute Hotel as it’s directly located on one of the streets where the festival passes by.