Nine meters wide, five meters tall — the nebuta floats move through the streets of Aomori like creatures from another world. Each is a lantern sculpture: a steel wire frame covered in washi paper, painted in vivid color, lit from within. The subjects come from kabuki, mythology, and legend — warriors mid-battle, gods in motion, demons caught in the act. A craftsman called a nebuta-shi spends an entire year building one, and after the festival ends, it is taken apart. The name traces back to an old midsummer ritual called nemuri nagashi — the practice of floating effigies on rivers to carry away the spirit of summer drowsiness. In the Tsugaru dialect, nebutai means sleepy. The festival, in other words, began as a way to stay awake through the harvest season. Surrounding the floats are the haneto — dancers in white costumes and straw hats who leap continuously to the chant of Rassera, rassera. Anyone wearing the proper costume can join. The costume is available to rent. On the final day, August 7, the floats run in the afternoon, and fireworks follow at night. One of the three great festivals of Tohoku. A national intangible folk cultural property.