東北エリアの日本の祭り風物詩

The dynamic and powerful Namahage dance
Namahage Sedo Festival

The Namahage Sedo Festival is a representative winter festival in Oga. This festival combines the Shinto ritual "Sedo Festival" and the folk event "Namahage." It began in 1964 and is held every year on the second Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Feb..
The festival begins with the "Yunomai" purification dance, a sacred dance unique to the Oga region, and the "Chinkamasai" traditional hot water ritual, held under the light of fire in the grounds of Mayama Shrine. A "Namahage Iori" ceremony is held, in which young men dressed as Namahage are given masks purified by the priests, transformed into Namahage, and return to the mountain.
At the Kagura Hall, you can see a reenactment of the traditional New Year's Eve event "Oga Namahage," as well as "Sato no Namahage," in which Namahage dressed in different costumes from all over the country burst into the fray, and heroic performances of "Namahage Taiko."
The Namahage Dance is held in front of the fire. The brave and powerful Namahage dance is very moving!

「横手の雪まつり」は、小正月行事「かまくら」や旭岡山神社へ奉納する「ぼんでん」を楽しめるお祭りです。「かまくら」は毎年2月15日、16日に開催され、横手市内に約60基のかまくらが作られます。かまくら中には水神様をお祀りし、家内安全・商売繁盛・五穀豊穣などを祈願します。
また、2月16日には各団体が意匠を凝らして作った「ぼんでん」の出来栄えを競う「梵天コンクール」が、17日には旭岡山神社に奉納する「旭岡山神社梵天奉納祭」が行われます。

100年以上の歴史をもつ小正月行事で、毎年2月10日に開催されます。「無病息災」「五穀豊穣」や「家内安全」などその年への願いを込めて武者絵や美人画などが描かれ、灯火をつけた巨大紙風船（大きなもので高さ約12m）、約60個がきらめく星々のごとく真冬の夜空に舞い上がります。

It's like a reenactment of a Sengoku picture scroll! A fierce and passionate warrior gallops on horseback! A nationally designated important intangible folk cultural asset with a history spanning more than 1,000 years

Approximately 400 mounted warriors clad in armor, with swords at their waists and flags on their backs, gallop across the fields in a powerful and heroic performance that is reminiscent of a period picture scroll.
According to legend, the Soma Nomaoi began over 1,000 years ago, when Taira no Masakado, who is said to be the ancestor of the Soma clan, released wild horses into Koganegahara in Shimousa Province (present-day northwestern Chiba Prefecture) and used them in military training, representing enemy soldiers.
The captured horses were then dedicated to the local deity, Myoken, as sacred horses. Even after Shigetane Soma moved to present-day Minamisōma City, successive feudal lords continued to carry on this tradition. The Nomaoi has been carried out without fail as a divine ritual to offer wild horses and pray for peace and tranquility in the Soma region.
After undergoing many changes, it is now designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. It is the largest festival held in the former feudal domain and is still an enthusiastic event.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Japanese float festival.
A spectacular and gorgeous float procession!

The Hachinohe Sansha Festival is the largest festival in the Hachinohe region, boasting approximately 290 years of history and tradition.

The main feature of the festival is the spectacular "gimmick floats" with dolls rising up and spreading out.
In the past, floats would only carry a single doll, but from the mid-Meiji period, they began to change into floats that told stories, and from around the 1970s onwards, floats began to be equipped with gimmicks.
When the floats are unfolded, as if they're being decorated like a bird spreading its wings, or when the dolls on the floats perform movements such as rising, pulling out, and standing up, huge cheers erupt from the crowd along the route.

Come on! A giant Nebuta appears!

Although Goshogawara Tachineputa are both Nebuta, the biggest difference between them and Aomori Nebuta is their height.
Tachineputa are over 20 meters tall.
Huge floats, the equivalent in height to a seven-story building, are pulled through the city to chants of "Yattemare, yattemare!"
These floats, called Tachineputa, were used in the summer as a form of purification ritual.
It is said that the original form of this craft was the making of lanterns, which eventually came to be called "assembled dolls."
From the Meiji period through to the Taisho period, their size grew ever larger, and wealthy merchants and communities in the city competed to build them.

天までとどけ！
豊作を祈り、町におりた光の天の川

The largest one is called "Oowaka," and is a 12-meter pole with 46 lanterns attached. To the sound of spirited music and the shouts of "Dokkoisho," the participants parade around, skillfully balancing the pole on their heads, shoulders, hands, and waists.
As they reach a more skilled level, they can be seen balancing the poles while holding the fans, which instantly heats up the excitement of the audience.

The performers manipulate over 200 kanto poles.
As many as 10,000 lanterns create a glowing Milky Way over the city of Akita, creating a fantastical summer night sky filled with excitement.
Not only does it serve as an event to convey the history of Akita domain and the culture and customs of the common people, but it has now become a beloved summer festival representing Tohoku, attracting many visitors from within and outside the prefecture, and even from overseas.

A secret festival where people dance with Hikosan hoods and straw hats.

Akita This is a traditional event in Nishimonai, Hago Town, Hago Prefecture, where people cover their faces with Hikosan hoods or woven hats and wear sewn costumes. The Bon dance is held for three days, with taiko drums playing to send off the ancestral spirits and ondo dances being performed.

3,000 gigantic, gorgeous streamers decorate the city of trees

During Sendai Tanabata Festival, gorgeous and gorgeous bamboo decorations made up of the traditional "seven decorations" of Sendai Tanabata Festival are displayed throughout the city, including along Sendai 's main streets, illuminating the summer in the City of Forests.
Every year, a large bamboo stalk is decorated with newly hand-made bamboo ornaments, some 3,000 of each size, which compete with each other for the most splendid.

At Sendai Tanabata Festival, seven different types of Tanabata decorations are displayed, each with its own meaning.

・Tanzaku...praying for improvement in academics and calligraphy.
・Paper garment...a substitute for illness or disaster, or a prayer for improvement in sewing skills.
・Origami cranes…wishing for longevity.
・Drawstring bag... Wishes for wealth, savings, and prosperity in business.
・Casting a net...praying for a good catch.
・Trash can…Put in scraps of paper and other fabric scraps from making decorations. It represents cleanliness and thrift.
・Streamers...symbolize Orihime's weaving threads.
Streamers are currently the main decoration, but if you walk around carefully you can see six other types of decorations everywhere.
Enjoy viewing the beautiful and colorful Tanabata decorations to your heart's content while feeling the gratitude for peace.

ヤッショ！マカショ！
紅花がゆれる花笠の波

The highlights of the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival, one of the three major folk festivals in Japan, are the spirited shouts and the heroic sounds of the Hanagasa drums. The gorgeously decorated floats are at the front, and dancers in gorgeous costumes and with flower-decorated hats perform a group dance.

There are various theories about the origin of the "Hanagasa Ondo" song sung at the Hanagasa Festival, but it is said to have originated from the "Tsuchitsuki Uta" song, which was sung to keep the rhythm during civil engineering work in Obanazawa in the mid-Taisho period.
In the early Showa period, this became a folk song and was named "Hanagasa Ondo."
As for the dance, it is said to have originated from a hat woven from reeds and dyed red paper with flower decorations attached, which was waved and swung around to cheer people up.

The festival begins with a gorgeously decorated Zao Daigongen float at the front, followed by brave shouts of "Yatsusho, makasho!" and the sound of flower-hasa drums echoing loudly into the midsummer night.
More than 10,000 dancers in gorgeous costumes perform dynamic, energetic dances, while waves of hats decorated with safflower, the flower of Yamagata, swell and bloom.