Nebuta Museum WA RASSE
Giant floats paraded in the Nebuta festival stay here year-round, in a two-story museum hall.
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Nebuta Museum WA RASSE
SaveGiant floats paraded in the Nebuta festival stay here year-round, in a two-story museum hall.
Festival flutes and drums play through the hall, and some float parts are left out to touch.
MoreWhat kind of place
Nebuta no Ie WA RASSE is Aomori City's culture and tourism center, opened in January 2011 on the harbor side of JR Aomori Station. Its heart is the Nebuta Hall, one huge space open all the way up to the second floor.
Each year the giant floats that actually went out in the festival are brought in and put on display there.
The name came from a public contest, which joined the winning entry, WA RASSE, to the runner-up, Nebuta no Ie, the house of the nebuta.
Sources and evidence (16)
- The Nebuta Museum and Nebuta Hall on the 1st floor is a huge space open all the way up to the 2nd floor, and it is the heart of the building.source
- Each year the large floats that went out in the actual festival are put on permanent display on the 1st floor.source
- Shamisen, flute, and nebuta festival music play through the building, so with real floats all around you it feels like walking through a sea of nebuta.source
- The Nebuta Museum on the 2nd floor traces the festival's history from the past to the present, through the people and the town.source
- Live nebuta festival music is played in the Nebuta Hall four times a day.source
- The festival sessions run 11:10 to 11:30 a.m., 1:10 to 1:30 p.m., 3:10 to 3:30 p.m., and 5:10 to 5:30 p.m., played by the museum's own staff.source
- On long holiday weekends a festival music group may play instead, and then the sessions run 11:00 to 11:30 a.m., 1:00 to 1:30 p.m., 3:00 to 3:30 p.m., and 5:00 to 5:30 p.m.source
- The restaurant on the sea side looks straight out at Aomori port, and there are lobbies on the 1st and 2nd floors where you can sit and watch the water.source
- The shop carries nebuta goods along with crafts and products from around Aomori.source
- There is no guided tour service, but staff are spread through the Nebuta Hall and you can ask them questions.source
- A powered cart is allowed if it travels no faster than 6 km/h (about 4 mph), and anything faster means switching to a wheelchair.source
- The nursing room is on the 2nd floor, and you tell a staff member when you want to use it.source
- Near the general information desk on the 1st floor there are coin lockers that return the 100 yen, usable from 9 a.m. to 9:50 p.m.source
- Bags and suitcases too big for a locker can be left at the general information desk on the 1st floor, for the length of your visit only.source
- Wi-Fi reaches part of the building, on the networks warasse-wifi and Aomori_City_Free_Wi-Fi, both of which need registration.source
- The Aomori Nebuta Festival is held from August 2 to 7 every year.source
With kidsThe part that matters
The Nebuta festival itself runs six days in August, but the giant floats that paraded in it stand in this hall all year.
Parts of the floats are set out to be touched, so a child can run a hand over one instead of only looking.
An elevator and ramps run through the building, so you can tour the whole museum with the stroller, and the general information desk on the first floor lends strollers and wheelchairs if you came without one.
The restaurant on the sea side looks straight out at Aomori port. The exhibits take about 30 minutes to walk, or about an hour if you stay for one of the four live festival-music sessions played each day.
Sources and evidence (5)
- Parts of floats are displayed for visitors to touch, alongside nebuta faces that show the style of each maker.source
- An hour and a half inside: at the festival session you ring hand gongs and jump, and some floats are there to touch.source
- An hour in September: history panels, draw your own nebuta face on screen, live drums, and a shop that takes QR payment.source
- A minute right along the water from Aomori Station's east exit to the red building. Closing: 7pm May–Aug, 6pm otherwise.source
- During the festival, 2–7 August, there are special displays; quiet times are weekdays 10–11 and weekends after 2pm.source
By age0-1 / 2-3 / 4-6
- Ages 0-1The Nebuta Hall on the first floor is a wide space open all the way up through the second, with the giant floats that were paraded in the festival itself standing in it. An elevator and slopes mean you can go through with the stroller, and shamisen, flutes and Nebuta festival music play across the hall.Strollers are lent at the general information desk on the first floor; just ask a staff member. The nursing room is on the second floor, and you speak to staff to use that as well. The ticket counter and entrance are on the second floor, and the route runs down a slope to an exit on the first. The live festival music plays four times a day for 20 minutes each, at 11:10, 13:10, 15:10 and 17:10, so you can time your walk around the loud stretches if you want to. Eating and drinking are not allowed inside the paid zone, but the free spaces on both floors allow it, and your ticket lets you back in the same day.
- Ages 2-3Parts of the floats are set out to be touched, so a child can put their hands on the real thing. Nebuta faces are lined up too, each showing its maker's own hand. Live festival music plays in the hall four times a day. The walk-through alone runs about 30 minutes.Your ticket lets you back in the same day, so when attention runs out you can step into the free spaces on either floor, where eating and drinking are fine, or the lobby looking over the harbor, and return afterwards. Inside the paid zone there is no eating or drinking. Strollers are lent at the first-floor general information desk and the nursing room is on the second. Bags go in the 100-yen returnable lockers near that desk, open 9:00 to 21:50; anything too big, including suitcases, is held at the desk while you are in the building.
- Ages 4-6The Nebuta Museum on the second floor traces the festival from its past to the present through the people and the town. Downstairs, faces built by different makers line up, each with its own expression, and there are float parts left out to touch. The festival session runs 20 minutes, with museum staff playing the Nebuta music. Staff are stationed around the hall, so a question can be asked on the spot.Admission is 260 yen for elementary and junior high students and 620 yen for adults. The visit runs about 30 minutes for the exhibits alone, 60 with the festival session, and around two hours once a meal and the shop are added. Sessions are at 11:10, 13:10, 15:10 and 17:10, each starting ten minutes earlier on days when a festival music group performs, such as long holidays, so arriving against that clock means no waiting. There is no guide service, but you can ask the staff in the hall. The whole building closes on August 9 and 10 while the floats on display are swapped out.
By weatherRain, heat, cold
- Rainy dayThe giant floats that paraded in the festival are on permanent display in the Nebuta Hall, a space open all the way up to the second floor. Live festival music is played there four times a day, and you enter at the second-floor ticket counter and follow a ramp down to the first-floor exit.
- Hot dayNot checked yet
- Cold dayNot checked yet
Time needed1–1.5 h
How was it with your kids?
Not greatGreat
- ElevatorElevator：with conditionsconditions
- Stroller OKStroller friendly：with conditionsconditions
- RentalStroller rental：not checked
- NursingNursing space：with conditionsconditions
- ChangingDiaper changing table：not checked
- Family WCFamily restroom：not checked
- Own foodOutside food allowed：with conditionsconditions
- EnglishEnglish support：not checked
* Other not checked (2)
Diaper disposal bin, Kids' toilet seat & step stool
Green = we confirmed it. Gray = not checked yet. Gray with a line through = the place does not have it.
Worth a look before you go
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
An hour and a half inside: at the festival session you ring hand gongs and jump, and some floats are there to touch.
Aomori's Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse: parking, tickets, time needed, and what the visit revealed
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
An hour in September: history panels, draw your own nebuta face on screen, live drums, and a shop that takes QR payment.
Why Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse turned out to be essential in Aomori
Chinese · opens translatedFirst-hand
A minute right along the water from Aomori Station's east exit to the red building. Closing: 7pm May–Aug, 6pm otherwise.
Aomori sights: Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse, the hall for one of Tohoku's three great festivals, with the giant floats all in one place
Japanese · opens translatedGuide
During the festival, 2–7 August, there are special displays; quiet times are weekdays 10–11 and weekends after 2pm.
One minute from Aomori Station: the festival's heat at Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse, and how not to get the visit wrong
Nebuta Museum WA RASSE · Links & reads ▾
Where to go next
Where it is
1-1-1 Yasukata, Aomori-shi, Aomori 030-0803source
Before you go
- Showing your admission ticket gets you back into the museum, on the same day only.source
- Eating and drinking is not allowed inside the ticketed Nebuta Museum, but it is fine in the open spaces on the 1st and 2nd floors.source
- The entire site is nonsmoking.source
- Only guide dogs and service dogs may come in, and no other animal is allowed even inside a carrier.source
- A range of cashless payments is accepted, but tickets cannot be bought online.source
More notes (3)
Basics
- Fee：Adults ¥620, high school students ¥460, elementary and junior high students ¥260. Groups of 10 or more pay ¥550 / ¥410 / ¥230. Elementary and junior high students living in Aomori City get in free with proof. A visitor with a disability certificate, plus one companion, enters free on showing the original certificate. Parking is ¥220 for the first hour and ¥110 per extra 30 minutes, but museum visitors get the first hour free.source
- Hours：The Nebuta Museum and Nebuta Hall open 9:00-19:00 from May to August (last entry 18:30) and 9:00-18:00 from September to April (last entry 17:30). The whole building closes on 9 and 10 August, when the floats on display are swapped over, and on 31 December and 1 January. The restaurant Uokkui-no-Ta runs 11:00-20:00 from May to August and 11:00-19:00 from September to April.source
- Time to allow：1–1.5 hsource23
- Booking：Individuals (under 10 people) need no booking; groups of 10 or more are asked to book ahead. Tickets cannot be bought online — you buy them at the second-floor counter, and cashless payment is accepted. Advance tickets are sold to groups only. Your ticket lets you re-enter the museum the same day. Bus parking is by reservation only.sourceOfficial booking site ↗
Basics in detail (21)
- The Aomori City culture and tourism center known as Nebuta no Ie WA RASSE opened in January 2011 on the harbor side of JR Aomori Station.source
- WA RASSE counts its birthday as January 5, 2011.source
- The city runs it as a culture and tourism center, the name the official site uses.source
- The nickname came out of a public contest, joining the winning entry, WA RASSE, with the runner-up, Nebuta no Ie.source
- Admission to the Nebuta Museum and Nebuta Hall is 620 yen for an adult, 460 yen for a high school student, and 260 yen for an elementary or junior high student.source
- For a group of 10 or more it is 550 yen for an adult, 410 yen for a high school student, and 230 yen for an elementary or junior high student.source
- Elementary and junior high students who live in Aomori City get in free, on showing something that proves it.source
- A visitor with a disability certificate, plus one companion, gets in free on showing the original certificate.source
- The combined two-museum and three-museum tickets, such as the Aomori Bay Area pass, stopped being sold on March 31, 2025.source
- Parking a standard car costs 220 yen for the first hour, then 110 yen for each additional 30 minutes, with overnight parking from 10:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. at 650 yen.source
- Museum visitors get the first hour of parking free by showing the stamped admission ticket and the parking ticket at the general information desk on the 1st floor.source
- Cars can enter the parking lot between 8:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. and can drive out at any hour, passenger cars only.source
- From May through August the Nebuta Museum and Nebuta Hall are open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with last entry at 6:30 p.m.source
- From September through April the Nebuta Museum and Nebuta Hall are open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last entry at 5:30 p.m.source
- The whole building closes on August 9 and 10, when the floats on display are swapped out, and on December 31 and January 1.source
- The restaurant Uokkui no Den is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. from May through August, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from September through April.source
- The shop Aimory is open 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. from May through August, and 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. from September through April.source
- The address is 1-1-1 Yasukata, Aomori 030-0803.
Once you've decided
evidence & sources (6)
Each year the giant floats that paraded in Aomori's Nebuta festival move in here, so the real ones are on show whatever month you come. The first-floor hall opens all the way to the second floor, and you look up at them from below. Shamisen, flutes and festival drums play through the building, and musicians perform live at set times. Upstairs the exhibits trace the history of the festival. A lobby faces the water, with Aomori port right outside.
| Indoor / outdoor | Indoor | All indoors: the museum on the second floor, the hall on the first, joined by a ramp through a space open to the ceiling. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | nebuta.jp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroller friendly | Yes | You can go round with a stroller — there is an elevator and a ramp. Strollers and wheelchairs are lent at the first-floor information desk; ask a member of staff. The route starts at the second-floor entrance and comes down the ramp to the first-floor exit. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | nebuta.jp |
| Nursing space | Yes (1) | One nursing room on the second floor; tell a member of staff when you want to use it. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | nebuta.jp |
| Elevator | Yes | An elevator and a ramp connect the two floors. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | nebuta.jp |
| Outside food allowed | Designated areas only | Eating and drinking is not allowed inside the paid Nebuta Museum zone, but it is allowed in the free spaces on the first and second floors. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | nebuta.jp |
| Stroller access notesExtra info — guide only | Yes | Lockers that return your ¥100 coin are near the first-floor information desk (9:00-21:50), and bags too big for them, including suitcases, are held at the desk for the length of your visit. Mobility scooters are fine up to 6km/h; faster ones must be swapped for a wheelchair. The whole site is non-smoking, and only guide and service dogs may come in. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | nebuta.jp |
| Diaper changing table | Not checked yet | ||||
| Family restroom | Not checked yet | ||||
| Diaper disposal bin | Not checked yet | ||||
| English support | Not checked yet | ||||
| Kids' toilet seat & step stool | Not checked yet |