67th Nisei Week parade to feature Japan’s grand Nebuta float, Aug. 19

 

Cultural News, August 2007

 

 

Gigantic Nebuta float depicting the 16th century warlord Takeda Shingen is designed and developed especially for the 67th Nisei Week will be appeared in the Nisei Week parade on August 19. (Courtesy of the Nisei Week Foundation)

 

    The 67th Nisei Week parade in Little Tokyo on Sunday, August 19 will feature Japan’s grand Nebuta float accompanying a few hundreds dancers from Aomori, northern Japan.

 

    An amazing Nebuta float that measures 30 ft. (W) x 24 ft. (L) x 17 ft. (H), is made out of wood, special colored paper and hundreds of lights and looks like a fierce, vibrant, Samurai warrior. The special float depicting the 16th century warlord Takeda Shingen, which was designed and developed especially for Los Angeles, is no less genuine than the many created for the Nebuta Festival held each August in Aomori – with 3.5 million attendees, it is noted as the largest and one of the best parades in Japan.

 

    Dancers in native Nebuta costumes, playing tunes on flutes and drums, accompany colorful floats pulled through the streets of Aomori every early August.  Here in Los Angeles also, hundreds of lively Haneto dancers dressed in traditional costume and chanting “Rasse-Ra,” taiko drummers and Japanese pipers will accompany Nebuta along the parade route.

 

    The Nisei Week Grand Parade will begin at 6 p.m. on Sunday, August 19 – later this year to ensure spectators can experience the full-effect of the illuminated Nebuta float. The float is best viewed in the evening, when it is dark, as the colored paper and 600-plus lights and sheer mass of the Nebuta can be fully experienced. It is anticipated that the Nebuta will start its “journey” along the route at roughly 8 p.m., the parade’s final float.

 

    To register to participate as a Haneto dancer, and for more information about the Nebuta float in Los Angeles, log onto www.nebuta-la.org.

 

    The 2007 Nisei Week Japanese Festival takes place in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo District from August 18-26. For calendar of events and volunteer information on the 67th Nisei Week Festival, log onto www.niseiweek.org or call the Nisei Week Foundation office at (213) 687-7193.