HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Tohoku’s Summer Festivals
Experience the vibrant festivals of northern Japan via virtual reality
Tohoku Tourism Promotion Organization
The famed summer festivals of the Tohoku region’s six prefectures were cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, they have been recreated in virtual reality to give you a fantastic, new, and dynamic perspective unavailable any other way.
The Aomori Nebuta Festival fills the screen with the overwhelming scale of its floats. Vibrant dancers and entertainers perform skilfully and deftly in Morioka’s Sansa Odori Festival. Sendai’s Tanabata Festival is a wonderful mixture of giant, colorful streamers and performances of the energetic Suzume Odori (lit ‘Sparrow Dance’). Akita’s powerful Kanto Festival fills the night sky with its carefully balanced and brilliant lanterns. In the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival, multitudes of dancers with safflower-adorned hats dance in perfect rhythm. In the Soma Nomaoi Festival, armor-clad samurai on horseback race excitingly close to spectators.
Due to the close timing of the Tohoku summer festivals, it is usually difficult to catch them all. With this virtual reality video you can experience them all from the comfort of home! Get an overview of the individual characteristics of each festival via the VR video and then come and witness them with your own eyes once the Covid-19 pandemic is under control. The people of Tohoku look forward to welcoming you.
