Aomori Nebuta festival

While this has very little to do with noodles, rice or any other food I had to include it here because it has been a feature of my travels so far.  Every year the northern Honshu city of Aomori puts on a matsuri that features these massive hand built lantern floats.  Each is about the size of a small truck and is pushed around by a about 20 or so people.  They are sort of opaque and so lights from within bring out the amazing colours and details as the sun goes down.  The matsuri lasts for most of the week and so each night the floats parade up and down the city accompanied by countless dancers, taiko drummers, percussionists and flautists.  If you ever get the chance this is one Japanese experience that I would recommend to anyone.  Plan your trip here to coincide with early August and you could net Aomori, a neighbouring city as well as nearby (Hokkaido) Hakodate all in full matsuri season.  All three in one week would be an amazing trip.