Nakanosawa Onsen Yokai Beer Garden

At Nakanosawa's summer festival, monsters will be hosting a beer garden!

Dear humans, did you make any memories this summer? In the summer, youkai gathered in the mountains, at the beach, at the pool, at festivals... in all the places where humans gathered, and of course youkai also gathered and enjoyed themselves.

Last summer, the Nakanosawa Onsen Festival was held in Nakanosawa Onsen, Fukushima Prefecture. The yokai all lent their support to liven up the summer festival hosted by humans.

It's called "Yokai Beer Garden"!

In addition to the sake prepared by the yokai, there was a variety of food prepared by the youth association, dancing to the taiko drums of a dance group, and interaction with local children... Please come and see how the yokai enlivened the summer festival.

About the Nakanosawa Onsen Festival

The venue was the entire Nakanosawa Onsen town on Saturday, July 20, 2019. The main activity areas for the yokai were the "Onsen Hiroba" located all the way down the Mother Green Line, and the "Nakanosawa Gymnasium" near the Nakanosawa Onsen office.

The event was scheduled to begin at 9am with a memorial service for the dead, followed by a children's portable shrine parade, a speed-eating contest, a trout catching event and other fun activities for everyone, from children to adults.

Morning rain at Nakanosawa Onsen

Unfortunately, it started raining on the day. The outdoor events, such as the morning trout catching and speed eating contest, were cancelled. Although the weather was unavoidable, it was a bit disappointing. We pulled ourselves together and decided to hold the events that could be held in the gymnasium.

In the gymnasium, Wasouka and Yunoshin performed.

The "Music Festival" was held at Nakanosawa Gymnasium. Along with the taiko drumming of Wasoka, Yunoshin completed his dynamic calligraphy. The sound of the taiko drums echoed through the gymnasium, creating a powerful impact. He submitted calligraphy that was worthy of a medicinal bath that was so strong that it overpowered the soap.

The rain has stopped! We're getting the food stalls ready.

Perhaps it was the power of the yokai or the prayers of the people of Nakanosawa that were answered... The rain stopped in the evening. The floats must be prepared for the festival. Everyone gathers one after another at the hot spring square.

The food stalls are set up! Customers gather at the Yokai Beer Garden.

The "Yokai Beer Garden" stall is now set up. Today's original cocktails are "Yokai Wort", "Suijin", "Yugen", "Tsurubebi", and "Kijimunna" (600 yen each). These five colorful cocktails are perfect for summer.

The members of the youth group are grilling charcoal. This charcoal goes perfectly with beer and sake. It's the best summer ever, eating meat and drinking beer.

The appearance of Ganguro Yamanba, a monster said to have once lived in Shibuya, was confirmed! (I wonder if young people today don't know about it?) The Yamanba, with all its excitement and energy, is floating in the idyllic countryside scenery and it's super awesome!

At first, the local children were scared of the monsters, as they are not usually seen. But as time went on, they began to actively try to interact with the monsters, and they quickly became good friends.

The festival really begins after the sun goes down

As the sun sets, the music gets louder and louder. From here, the festival begins in earnest, with Bon Odori dancing, fireworks, drinking and singing.

The excitement of Wasouka's music

The festival started with the music of Wasouka, who played wonderful taiko drums at the music festival. Everyone in Nakanosawa was completely captivated by the sound of the drums that penetrated to the core of their bodies and the dynamic acrobatics.

People and monsters can dance! Bon Odori

Bon Odori. Everyone dances together, monsters and humans alike. It's a little bit fantastical, but a lot of fun.

Be impressed by the fireworks that conclude the festival

At the climax of the festival, a huge fireworks display was launched. The launch site was very close, so we were able to see the huge and impressive fireworks up close! It's rare to see fireworks this big and close at a famous fireworks festival. It was very beautiful and moving.

It was a summer memory of the yokai livening up the summer festival.

This was a big event where all the yokai came out to set up stalls at the festival to revitalize the town. There were some unexpected things happening, such as the weather, so things were pretty hectic right up until the last minute.

However, when the event actually began, not only the customers who came to enjoy the festival, but even the monsters who enlivened the stores were enjoying the festival to the fullest. I hope that this will become a wonderful summer memory for the people of Nakanosawa, and I feel that I want to continue this town revitalization campaign in the future.

How to get to Nakanosawa Onsen

From JR Ban'etsu West Line Inawashiro Station, take the Bandai Toto Bus bound for Takamori. It takes about 35 minutes to get to the Nakanosawa Onsen bus stop, then a 10 minute walk to the hot spring town. Please come and visit the famous Nakanosawa Onsen!

Author of this article

Eimi Nemu

I like Halloween and festivals. In addition to being a writer who mainly writes for the web, I also do sculpture production. Sometimes I dress up in funny costumes at events (I was livening up the Yokai Beer Garden with Yamanba). My favorite yokai is the Umibozu (sea monster).