Out Of The Centre
The city's remaining sights are all in the southern suburbs, of which by far the most rewarding is an exhibition of festival floats at Nebuta-no-sato (daily: June to mid-Sept 9am-8pm; mid-Sept to May 9am-5.30pm; June-Sept Y630, Oct-May Y420). JR and Shiei buses (1-2 hourly; 30min; Y450) drop you on the main road, from where it's a short walk to the ticket gate. One of Japan's great summer festivals, the Nebuta Matsuri, is named after the gigantic bamboo-framed paper lanterns ( nebuta ) which take the form of Kabuki actors, samurai or even sumo wrestlers in dramatic poses. The features are painted by well-known local artists, and the lanterns - lit nowdays by electricity rather than candles - are mounted on wheeled carts and paraded through the night-time streets of Aomori. According to the most popular local legend, the lanterns originated in 800 AD, when local rebels were lured out of hiding by an imaginative general who had his men construct an eye-catching lantern and play festive music. You can see several of today's magnificent nebuta in a darkened hall, on the hillside to the left as you walk through the park, alongside photos of early festivals and of the construction techniques. On the way out take a look in a smaller hall, just before the river, which contains a fan-shaped float from the rival Hirosaki festival, known as the Neputa Matsuri . On the way back into central Aomori, ask to get off at the Kami-Tamagawa bus stop. This rather unpromising area of pachinko parlours and drive-ins is also home to an interesting folk museum, the Keikokan (daily except Thurs & last day of the month 9.30am-4.30pm; free), dedicated to documenting the daily life of the "snow country" - Japan's mountainous interior. The museum has a valuable collection of local crafts, from fine lacquerware to heavily embroidered textiles and sturdy wooden furniture. If you're not going to Hokkaido, the display of Ainu clothes and jewellery is also worth a look. One of Aomori's most famous citizens, a woodblock artist inspired by Van Gogh, is honoured in the Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum (Tues-Sun 9am-4.30pm; Y300). The small museum shows rotating exhibitions of his bold, almost abstract scenes of local festivals and Aomori people. Though best known for his black-and-white prints, Shiko also dabbled in oils, painted screens and calligraphy. To reach the museum, take a bus from Aomori Station bound for Koyanagi and get off at the Munakata Shiko Kinenkan-dori-mae stop (15min; Y190), from where it's a four-minute walk west, in front of the NTT building.
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