Festival of fire

Festival of fire

by Thomas Perry

The ‘street parade’ will never be the same for Melbourne writer, Thomas Perry, following his visit to the Japanese city of Aomori.

It pains me to say this, but when someone says “street parade” my home city simply does not cut it.
Melbourne is a city that prides itself on its events; it is what my city is famous for. But when it comes to street parades, for some reason we have never quite hit the mark.
I have no doubt there have been generations of Melbourne City councillors with visions of Moomba parades matching the Carnaval in Rio, Thanksgiving Day in New York, or even the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras.
To be honest, our memories are more likely to be of rain-soaked Moomba floats chugging along St Kilda Road, with Lou Richards, Con the Fruiterer or Denise ‘Ding-Dong’ Drysdale waving from their ‘Moomba Monarch’ throne.
As I departed the relatively small Japanese city of Aomori, in the very north of Japan’s main island of Honshu, I made a small note in my travel journal of one event that should be on the must-see list for anyone planning any Moomba parade festivities. It simply said: Aomori Nebuta Festival: ...insane. As anyone who has spent enough time in this unique country will tell you, the Japanese do not do anything creative by half. They put their hearts, their souls and in the case of the people of Aomori – their bodies – into it.
The festival involves enormous, powerfully-lit floats being pushed around a large city block by thousands of exuberant Aomori locals. Each design is inspired by traditional drawings of Japan’s most intimidating warriors doing battle with dragons, tigers, ghosts and a plethora of other seriously angry creations. Keeping the crowds entertained between each float are teams of performers and acrobats – including the energetic and unstoppable Haneto dancers, whose chants of ‘Rassera, rassera, rasse-rasse, rassera’ match the musical accompaniment of hundreds of flautists and drummers, who pound away on cauldron-sized drums as if to inspire an army on its way to a final battle with their sworn enemy.
There is no shortage of theories about the origins of this unique event (they become more bizarre the longer you linger with locals over cans of Sapporo). According to the local tourist authority, however, the Aomori Nebuta is said to have originated from the ritual of toro floating – a symbolic purification of the soul that involves floating candles into a moving body of water, with each candle boxed into the shape of a doll, and wrapped in traditional paper. Nebuta floats have grown considerably since their original form. Candles have been replaced by lightbulbs, the floats have taken on the images of powerful warriors...and they are now at least nine metres long and around five metres high.
Taking a full year to design and construct, the floats are, remarkably, made of the same traditional Japanese paper used in the original floating lanterns. Large teams of dedicated locals are pressed into service to do the grunt work needed to get these monsters moving. Each float is led by a ‘drill sergeant’ who belts out words of encouragement (or threats, depending on your point of view) at his understandably exhausted troops.
The festival is held during the first week of August, with the major parades happening each night for four days. The week culminates with a massive firework display as the floats are symbolically taken out to sea. (In 2003, Moomba was renamed Melbourne Moomba Waterfest. Scary stuff.)
It is seriously impressive. With these war-inspired floats lighting up Aomori streets at night and the trance-like moves of the performers getting hordes of onlookers involved, an unsuspecting foreigner arriving in Aomori could be excused for thinking this usually quiet town had been taken over by a bizarre cult. While the Aomori Nebuta has a sensational reputation within Japan – it attracts thousands from across the country and is considered one of Japan’s most important cultural events - foreigners (or gaijin) often miss this unique and brilliantly chaotic festival. To most, Aomori usually serves as a half-way town for those crossing the Tsugaru Strait between Japan’s largest island of Honshu and the snow haven of Hokkaido.
But for those who make the effort and stop in Aomori, they are in for a visual feast and one that will challenge the misconception that Japanese artistic expression is confined to the ideas of tranquility and minimalism.
My words of advice to the City of Melbourne would be this: make the Moomba parade as big, scary and crazy as possible. If a small city like Aomori can pull the punters, then imagine what we can do!

How to get there: Qantas and Jetstar both fly direct to Japan from most Australian east coast cities, with connections to Sapporo. The Japan Rail network provides relatively hassle-free train connections to Aomori from all major cities in Japan.
Cost: Whilst the festival itself is free, accommodation in the area can get expensive during the festival. Book ahead, book early. For those keen to join in the festivities, traditional haneto costumes can be hired for approximately JPY5000.
More information: www.nebuta.jp