Tsugaru-han Neputa Village

Tsugaruhan Neputa Village is an interactive cultural facility where you can experience the Neputa Festival—one of Hirosaki’s four major festivals—along with hands-on workshops and live performances. Visitors can try making goldfish neputa lanterns and Tsugaru lacquerware, watch the crafting process, experience traditional spinning-top play, and listen to live Tsugaru shamisen music. Across Aomori Prefecture, many areas hold neputa or nebuta festivals, but Hirosaki is often said to be the birthplace because records show that the 5th lord of the Hirosaki Domain, Tsugaru Nobuhisa, watched "nemuta" in 1722. The festival was originally called "nemuta," and later came to be known as "neputa" or "nebuta." Hirosaki’s neputa are characterized by their fan shape, although some doll-shaped floats (kumi-neputa) also exist. The front typically features warrior paintings, and the base section known as the "hiraki" is decorated with a camellia, the Tsugaru family crest. Because of their ornate artwork, Hirosaki’s neputa are sometimes called a "moving art museum." At Tsugaruhan Neputa Village, you can watch live flute and festival music performances in the neputa exhibition area, and you can also try playing the drums yourself. Within the grounds is the Japanese garden "Yokien," built in the Tsugaru region’s distinctive style known as (Oishi) Bugaku-ryu. Bugaku-ryu gardens intentionally use massive, rugged stones sourced locally, and feature garden trees such as conifers suited to the local climate. Yokien also uses the old pine trees of Hirosaki Castle and Mt. Iwaki as borrowed scenery.