The three summer festival of northern Japan - 8 days

An old  traditional summer ritual called neburi nagashi celebrates the fight against drowsiness that comes at work, the hunt against bad spirits and the purification of the body. It takes place in the north of the Tohoku region.

The inhabitants of the Tohoku region are well-known as people of hard-working farmer who use to pray for a successful-harvest. Those traditions are nowadays rooted in this part of Japan. Neburi nagashi has been relayed through the generations and became one of the greatest summer festivals in Tohoku; a true symbol of this season in Japan. This trip is the perfect occasion for you to enjoy three great summer festivals in Tohoku : the nebuta matsuri in Aomori, the kanto matsuri in Akita, and the illuminated moving castles in the night: Noshiro sleepless castles festival. What about sharing the hottest-season of the year with the Tohoku inhabitants ?

This tour project is cooperated with and supported by Noshiro fuyajo festival excutive committee and Noshiro Tourism Association

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In order to make the departure to the Tohoku region easier, we will stay in a well situated hotel, in the center of Tokyo, easy to access. Take your time and enjoy sightseeing Tokyo during the day. If you are more into discovering a traditionnal side of Japan, you may decide to visit the famous Senso-ji in the district of Asakusa and the area of Ya-Ne-Sen with its nostalgic atmosphere. If you decide to explore the capital's modernity, you might to the well-know area of Shibuya ad its crossing or he lvely neighboorhood or Shinjuku and its skyscrappers coexisting withe very intimate bars of the Golden Gai.
Do not hesitate to contact us for the extra nights in Tokyo or if your are interested in any guided day trip there. 
Before departure, you will prepare a bag for 5 days and can leave suitcases at the reception of the hotel.

 Our daytrips from Tokyo

Tokyo station - (boarding the shinkansen) - Odate (Akita Prefecture) - Bento box making experience - hotel

From Tokyo station, you will head for Odate by taking the bullet train Tohoku shinkansen. If you want to make your travel more comfortable, don’t forget to buy a delicious bento, a snack and a beverage before departure. In Japan, the bento box is essential to travel by shinkansen ! Moreover, did you know that each region of Japan has its own bento recipes ? Time to enjoy your favorite meal !

Odate is a quiet town located north of Akita Prefecture. Maybe you have heard about the famous dog Akita. He is indeed very popular, maybe thanks to Hachiko, the faithful dog honored with a statue that still stands in Shibuya station. 

Once you arrive in Odate, after the check-in at the hotel, you will experience the traditional handicraft. In Odate, the most famous handicraft is the bento box making called “Odate Magge Wappa”. It dates back to the 17th century, the lord of the satake clan living in Odate castle offered  the lower-class samurai to practice it. Following the Odate mage wappa manufacturing methods, enjoy making your own bento box that you will bring back at home for your lunch break !

The cedar wood is cutted, softened in hot water, bended and on it is sewed bark of mountain cherry tree. This box is therefore made up of natural materials and is a true unique treasure, having been made by yourself !

Morning : free time
During your free time, enjoy a stroll in the streets of Odate (ex : Akita dog places)
Afternoon : Leaving the hotel - (train) - Aomori city (nebuta matsuri festival and haneto dance experience) - (train) - Odate (overnight)

Time to enjoy the festival !

Throughout the year, plenty of festivals take place in the Tohoku region, celebrating climate and harvest. The summer festivals are the best. The Aomori Nebuta festival is one of the three greatest summer festivals in this part of Japan, and draw many visitors every year. This festival would be date back from the VIIIth century and originated in China, merged with a traditional japanese fest called Toro nagashi which celebrates the travel of the souls in the after life, and viewed as the healer of everyday’s pain. Big “toro” lanterns made with washi paper in the form of a courageous samurai and a character took from a famous chinese novel stand 5 meters high. Moreover, haneto dancers come to beautify this great event with the sound of traditional music.You too, come and enjoy this wonderful festival and experience the dance as you were a true haneto dancer !

Odate - (train) - Noshiro - Sightseeing - Tanabata Noshiro (the castle in the sky) - Overnight in Noshiro

You will travel by private car from Noshiro station to the Oga peninsula. The coastal road offers a beautiful landscape and is well-known to offer an incredible sunset on the sea. This region is also famous for its fishing port and its wide range of products and varieties of fishes. You could enjoy its fish market and taste all kind of delicious sea treasures. Who knows which variety of fish will be fished this day ? Take a rest and enjoy your meal in one of the very good restaurants that are waiting for you !

Oga has a very unique culture. Do the word Namahage means something to you? It is New year’ Eve, the gods are travelling from the Shinzan and Honzan mountains, to the villages where children hide in their houses. On that day come the demons, they are here to hunt bad behaviour children. This ritual is called Namahage. People wearing demon costumes walk in the streets of the village to frighten the children and visit each house. The family patriarch has to stop them. The main goal of this ritual is to show how important and serious is the patriarch in a family to contribute to a mutual satisfaction.

This event is listed in the UNESCO’s immaterial cultural heritage since 2018 in “the ritual visits of deities in masks and costumes” section. During this tour, we are going to visit the Namahage gallery and participate to a demonstration of the ritual.

Photos：By Douglas P Perkins (Douglaspperkins (talk)) - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11994069
 

Noshiro - (train) - Akita - free time  - Kanto matsuri  festival - overnight in the center of Akita city or Omagari by train (overnight)

We will take the train at Noshiro station to reach the next step of our adventure : Akita city. It is located in the Akita Prefecture and is the prefectural city. The population is about 300 000 inhabitants, Akita being the biggest coastal city in the Tohoku region. Although it is a very quiet town, in front of the station stands a big mall that is convenient to enjoy a lunch and buy souvenirs. Before that the kanto matsuri festival starts, you could enjoy a free time visit of the Kubota castle’s ruins and the Senshukoen park. Another interesting site is the fine arts museum of Akita exposing the works of a famous painter : Tsuguharu Foujita. You can also see some demonstrations of Kanto technique around the main street during the day.

【Senshukoen park】
 

The Senshukoen park is the old domain of the Kubota castle which formerly belonged to the Satake clan whose generation followed during 267 years from Keicho 7 era (1602) to the Meiji period (1869), the end of the feudalism in Japan. The first generation of the lords who lived in the castle was Satake Yoshinobu, who decided to build the castle on a hill during the Keicho 8 era, so this kind of construction is called in japanese Hirayama. The park has been made during Meiji period in 1869 by the master of modern parks designers that time, Nagaoka Yasuhei. Few years after, Ryouchi Kano, graduated of a synology school in Akita decided to name the park “senshu”. Actually, Senshu is written 千 which means 1000 and shu 秋 which means autumn and could be also read as aki.

Photos：By 掬茶 - 投稿者自身による作品, CC 表示-継承 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69638521
　　　    By kamoseiro - 自ら撮影, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5046315

【Akita prefectural fine art museum】

The museum is well-known for exposing the works of a famous japanese painter, Tsugouharu Foujita. The museum opened since 1967 with the intention to exhibit national and international art collections of the Masakichi Hirano foundation (1895 -1989). Hirano was a close friend of Foujita. Here are exposed his greatest works as “Akita's event” 秋田の行事. 50 years after it opened, in 2013, the museum was designed by the very famous architect Tadao Ando. The museum still exhibits a very wide range of different themes.

Photos：By 掬茶 - 投稿者自身による作品, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27886858
　　　    By 掬茶 - 投稿者自身による作品, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20847251

The kanto matsuri festival is old. We could read in the literature of the XVIIIth century some lines that describe an event where “long illuminated pole lanterns parade in the streets”. It could be also compared with the Neburi nagashi festival. You will certainly applaud  this spectacular show where huge pole lanterns 12 meters high and with a weight of 50 kilos are carried with elegance and a stunning agility. This particular performance needs incredible agility skills but also the respect of numerous methods developed for many years.

Akita - (Shinkansen or train) - Kakunodate, walk in the samurai neighborhood - small excursion by private car (Lake Tazawako and surroundings) - Tazawako (overnight)

 

Kakunodate (from the 17th century) has been flourished as a castle town of the daimyo Satake.  As there are some well-preserved samurai residences in the town, it is called “Little Kyoto of Michinoku”. The townscape of the streets devised to avoid surprise attack from enemies, and residences guarded by black walls gives the feeling that you’re seeing the city back in Edo period. Kakunodate is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring, but you will also be amazed by its beauty of nature in other season such as shade of trees in summer, autumn leaves in fall, and white landscapes in winter. It is also designated as a preservation district for groups of historic buildings.

From Kakunodate, get in a private car and head to Lake Tazawa sightseeing tour. Your driver will guide you with simple English and the warm hospitality of Akita’s local people. First, you will be guided to “Dakigaeri Valley” where you can feel the nature of Akita. You can see beautiful primeval forests that remain along the steep valley, the mysterious mountain stream with a unique emerald green color, various waterfalls such as the “Mikaeri no taki (waterfall)”, and the suspension bridge while strolling.
Long ago the mountain path along the gorge was so steep and narrow that people had to embrace each other as they passed. This gave rise to the gorge’s name “Dakigaeri”, meaning “to embrace someone and turn around”. But easy-to-walk footpaths are available now and it has become easy to walk around. It is a scenic spot representing Akita.

Next, you will be finally seeing Lake Tazawa. The bright blue Lake Tazawa is the deepest lake in Japan, boasting a depth of 423.4 meters. There has been a legend that a girl named Tatsuko turned into a dragon and became the protective dragon of the lake. Enjoy taking a scenic walk of beautiful and mysterious Lake Tazawa.

Tazawako　－　(Shinkansen）　－　Hiraizumi－Hiraizumi sightseeing　　－　（shinkansen）　－　Tokyo station　－　Hotel in Tokyo (overnight）

Hiraizumi, located in the north side of Japan, which has been one of the government offices dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, and it was the administrative centre of the northern realm of Japan and rivalled Kyoto.
The site of Hiraizumi is realized based on the cosmology "Jodo" (the pure land) buddhism. This worldview was born from the earnest desire of people who longed for piece in mind and also the after death and it is said that they worked for realizing the Bukkokudo (Jodo) in Hiraizumi.

In 2011, the temples, gardens and remains in this site were registered under the name of "Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land" in Unesco World Heritage Site. The "Jodo" buddhism born in the fusion of nature-worship and shinto from ancient times of Japan, and Hiraizumi was bult from this spilit and we find it in the constructions and in the gardens and they were the reasons why Hiraizumi is classified in the World Heritage.

In this tour, we will visit Chusonji temple and Moutsuji temple which are the most representative temples in this place.

After the visit of Hiraizumi, we will take the shinkansen again for Tokyo. After picking up the luggage in the hotel, it will be the end of this tour. Please take some rest time in your hotel. If you wish, we can propose a plan for the next day. How about going to an excursion near Tokyo or going to Kyoto or Osaka, or in the popular city of Kanazawa, or even to Seto islands? 

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