Naganuma Festival - with magnificent Nebuta and Neputa floats

Naganuma was a town in Fukushima, now part of Sukagawa City. On a recent visit to Sukagawa City I saw the pictured poster, advertising the festival, which reportedly will be on for the first time in four years. It looks like an amazing festival.

Naganuma Festival

I was surprised that I had never heard of this festival before. But obviously its well known because approximately 30,000 people attend this festival annually according to Fukushima Prefecture. You can see both Nebuta and Neputa Festival floats at the festival. But there are just seven floats, so its smaller than other festivals of the same style.

However, there is more to the festival than just floats. They also have Yosakoi and other dance performances, including Japanese style synchronized dancing. In addition, children will carry a small mikoshi (portable shrine). This year will be the 37th anniversary of the festival.

Information

Event: Naganuma Festival 長沼まつり

Date: Saturday September 9th 2023

Time: from 4 pm to 9.30 pm

Cost: there is no admission fee

Venue: Naganuma Kanemachi Street, around Nagunama Citizen's Service Center.

Access: unfortunately, the festival area is quite far from a train station. Therefore, they have several different parking lots in the vicinity, for people coming by car.

Fukushima is completely underrated as a tourist destination, but there is so much to do and see in the prefecture. And Sukagawa City has dozens of attractions, especially for fans of Ultraman and / or Eiji Tsuburaya. If you are looking for somewhere to stay in Sukagawa City, here is one option.