A summer festival of giant illuminated floats and festival music moving through Goshogawara
Goshogawara Tachineputa
Festival information
EVENT INFORMATION- Season / frequency
- Every year, August 4 to August 8 / Every year
- Area
- Aomori Prefecture・Goshogawara City(From Tokyo: approx. 3 h–3 h 30 min · bullet train)Prefecture-level estimate to a main station or airport, not the venue. Airport access, check-in and onward travel are extra; remote areas and islands can take much longer.
- Features
- Highlights and activities
- Official website / social media
- Official website
- Last updated
- 2026/10/19
A summer festival in which enormous tachineputa floats, accompanied by festival music and shouts, parade through downtown Goshogawara. From along the route, you can admire the floats’ designs and lights up close; some reach about 23 meters in height.
Photo credits and terms of use
Photographer: 撮影者に準ずる File:Tachineputa～2007 "Mebukiurasaburu".JPG / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 自ら撮影Display size only adjusted.May differ from the event currently featured.Photo credits and terms of use
Photographer: 撮影者に準ずる File:Tachineputa～2005炎"Homura".JPG / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 自ら撮影Display size only adjusted.May differ from the event currently featured.Photo credits and terms of use
Photographer: 掬茶 File:Tachineputa～2010 Matagi-2.JPG / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 Own work by the contributorDisplay size only adjusted.May differ from the event currently featured.About Goshogawara Tachineputa
Goshogawara Tachineputa is a summer festival in which enormous tachineputa floats parade through central Goshogawara City, Aomori Prefecture.
Some floats exceed 20 meters in height, and powerful festival music and the chant “Yattemare” fill the streets.
Medium and small neputa made by neighborhood groups, schools, and enthusiasts also join the parade, keeping the tradition alive throughout the community.
Source: 五所川原立佞武多｜イベント｜【公式】青森県観光情報サイト Amazing AOMORI / 五所川原立佞武多（ごしょがわらたちねぷた） - 五所川原市
Festival highlights
The main highlight is the impressive scale of the tachineputa, which can reach about 23 meters in height and weigh about 19 tons.
Each float has its own theme, expressed through intricate designs and vivid colors.
Illuminated floats advance to the music of large drums, flutes, and hand gongs, accompanied by shouts, letting you enjoy both their immense scale and graceful beauty.
A summer festival of giant illuminated floats and festival music moving through Goshogawara
What to expect
During the festival, large tachineputa floats displayed at the Tachineputa Museum, along with medium and small neputa made by neighborhood groups, schools, and enthusiasts, parade through the city.
A large drum leads the procession, followed by musicians, haneto dancers who leap while shouting, and people pulling the floats.
Spectators watch from along the route as the floats’ designs, festival music, and shouts come together in the procession.
Location and access
- Venue and address
Central Goshogawara City.
Address: Goshogawara City, Aomori Prefecture.
- Train and bus
About a 3-minute walk from Goshogawara Station on the JR Gonō Line.
- By car
About 10 minutes from Goshogawara IC on the Tsugaru Expressway.
- Parking
Temporary parking is available.
Event venue 青森県五所川原市 五所川原市内中心市街地
This map uses the venue name. Check the official guide for the event area and entrances.
Dates and season
- Season
Every year, August 4 to August 8
- Frequency
Every year
Accommodation and hotels PR
Showing nearby accommodation.
Prices and availability are current at the time of retrieval. For multi-night stays, only the first night’s price is shown. Confirm the final price and directions to the venue with the booking provider. Select your dates again when using the area search link. Search area: within 3 km of Central Aomori Prefecture / Goshogawara City (the search is not centered on the festival venue)
Nearby attractions
The Tachineputa Museum, which permanently exhibits the festival’s large tachineputa floats, is recommended as a related place to visit.
Inside the museum is a large tachineputa float used in the actual festival. You can take in the whole float while walking down the spiral-like ramp from the 4th floor.
A place where you can see the designs and scale of the tachineputa even outside the festival period.
太宰治記念館 「斜陽館」
青森県五所川原市にある太宰治の生家
写真：掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0(resized and reformatted)
Photo source ·
立佞武多の館
青森県五所川原市にある展示施設
写真：掬茶 / CC BY-SA 3.0(resized and reformatted)
Photo source ·Origins and History of Goshogawara Tachineputa
Neputa is thought to have developed into a lantern festival in the Tsugaru region from folk customs shared with “nemuri-nagashi” rituals held throughout Japan.
Around Meiji 40, neputa floats about 27 meters tall were built in Goshogawara, but they became smaller as electric and telephone lines spread.
Volunteers who tried to recreate the floats from old photographs built a Tachineputa in Heisei 8, and since Heisei 10 it has paraded as a summer festival involving the whole community.
Official information
For event details and procession information, see the official Goshogawara Tachineputa website.
The Goshogawara Tourism Association and the Goshogawara Chamber of Commerce and Industry are listed as contact points.
Source: 立佞武多公式サイト / 五所川原立佞武多 - 五所川原市
Goshogawara Tachineputa at a Glance
Goshogawara Tachineputa is a summer festival in Goshogawara City, where enormous floats, festival music, shouts, and haneto dancers make their way through the city.
It carries on the tradition of giant neputa from the Meiji period and has been revived and developed since the Heisei period.
You can watch the procession from along the route, and see large neputa floats year-round at the Tachineputa Museum.
Japanese Festivals.jp Editorial Team
Celebrating local culture and helping you discover a side of Japan you never knew.
Article updated: 2026/10/19
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