Giants Parade the Streets During Tachineputa Festival in Goshogawara, Aomori Pref.

By Kenneth Valencich / Japan News Staff Writer

13:55 JST, September 12, 2025

Giants lumber down the streets of Goshogawara, Aomori Prefecture, to the sound of drums, flutes and cymbals from Aug. 4-8.

The Tachineputa Festival is one of the key annual events for the northern city and people from across Japan and beyond come to see it.

The three main festival floats, each around 23 meters tall, stand taller than many of the buildings they pass.

Participants in the festival chant “yattemare” as they push and pull with all their might to move these roughly 19-ton behemoths around the city.

Float designs include famous figures drawn from many sources, including history, myth and literature.

The people pulling smaller floats are able to run and spin them to elicit cheers from the crowd.