There are many things that make Akita special. Its nature, its festivals, its food, and even a few cultural landmarks here and there. However, one thing stands out from the crowd – Namahage. Sure, Akita also sports things like a nice samurai mansion (which prefecture doesn’t?), Kiritanpo (basically rice on a stick) and the Kanto Festival (only once a year for a few days).
However, Namahage is different. Namahage can be seen all year round at the Namahage Museum on Oga peninsula, and it is entirely unique to Akita prefecture. But what is Namahage, and why is it so important to go to Akita to see it?
Contents
- What is Namahage?
- Get to the Namahage Museum
- At the Namahage Museum
- Go to the Onsen area
- Staying at the Onsen
- Namahage Taiko
- Going back to Akita
- Final thoughts
- Useful links
What is Namahage?
Imagine the scene – New Year’s Eve, arguably the most holy night in Japan. Usually it is spent at home with the family, and it is a rather quiet, yet cozy, affair. Suddenly, however, from the front door, a voice calls out, “Can the Namahage enter?”, and the head of the household replies, “Yes”. What happens next, can best be described at total bedlam. From the front door, several men, dressed in straw coats, brandishing (fake) cleaving knives and wearing demonic masks suddenly come bursting in.
“Are there any bad children? Are there any crying children?” they call out as they stomp through the house, searching for whatever kids might live there. No matter how well the children hide though, they are always found. Crying and screaming, they are then captured and carried to the front door. But the parents hold on to the kids and engage in a tug of war with the Namahage. In a bid to quell the hunger of the demons, the parents offer them saké and food, and engage in a discussion about the behavior of their children. During the palaver, the Namahage tell the kids to behave, do their homework, and listen to their parents, for they are always watching from the mountains and will gladly take them away next year if they aren’t good. Afterwards, the Namahage yell and stomp around the house in order to rid it of evil spirits. And then, with an offering of mochi, they leave for the next house.
Pretty far out, right? This is something that ONLY exists in Akita, and in my humble opinion, going to Oga to experience this is well worth the visit. The museum has a little cinema, with a documentary showing footage from the actual event (it comes with English audio if you ask for it!), there is an enormous display of the different styles of masks from all over the peninsula, and there is a demonstration which you cannot afford to miss.
But now you might be considering, “Go all the way to Akita, just to visit a museum?” Which you would be well in your right to think. But there is a way to increase the value for a trip like this: Go to the Oga onsen area, spend the night there, and see the Namahage Taiko group.
You might have seen Taiko (Japanese drums) before, but you have never seen it like this. Donning the costumes of the Namahage and sporting a drumming technique that is wild and primal, the Onga Namahage Taiko group draws people from all over Japan.
HOWEVER! Should you now find yourself tempted to visit Akita and go to Oga peninsula, you are met by some hurdles: How do you get there? Where can you stay? How can you enjoy these things?
The unpleasant truth about visiting Akita, is that good information in English can be hard to come by. The best option is to just rent a car to get around, but that is not an option for most people, which leads me to the main objective of this blog post:
Telling you how to get to the Namahage Museum and what to do there + how to get to the Onsen area, how to book a room there, and how to see the Taiko performance, while using public transport.
1: Get to the Namahage Museum
To get to the museum, first you need to go to Oga peninsula. This is a feat easily done with the help of Google Maps or a similar service. From Akita station, get on the Ou Line for Oga. It will change name to Oga Line along the way, but don’t let this fool you. It is still the same train. The ride takes roughly one hour, and the train is themed after the Namahage.
Once in Oga, things get a bit more complicated. The museum is located all the way up in the mountains, and the only way to get there is by the Namahage Shuttle. It leaves at set intervals, but it is still necessary to make a reservation. When exiting Oga station, turn right, and you will find the shuttle stop at bus stop number 3.
I cannot stress this enough: You MUST make a reservation, otherwise the shuttle might not even show up. Tickets are paid on the shuttle.
Reservations can be made here: https://oganavi.com/namahage_shuttle/en/
To make your reservation, you need to input when you are going, and between which stops. The site is a bit clunky, looks kinda sketchy, and some parts are only in Japanese for some reason (even on the English version of the site), but it will get you where you need to go.
The shuttle-stop outside the Namahage Museum
2: At the Namahage Museum
At the counter, make sure to get the ticket for BOTH the museum and the demonstration. Trust me, you won’t regret splurging a few hundred yen extra. And if you do not speak Japanese, you should ask for an English audio guide for the documentary at the counter. It might require a few gestures and simple words such as “Namahage movie, English?” though, as the staff does not really speak English. Preparing the English audio headsets takes them a bit of time, so be prepared to maybe wait a bit. If you don’t feel like waiting, you can just go watch the movie without it.
Generally, it is a good idea to put aside 2 hours for the museum. It can be done faster, but you also don’t want to have to rush for the next shuttle, or, god forbid, miss it and get stranded.
Inside the museum there are three main things you will want to spend time on. The documentary, the mask display, and the demonstration. On some days of the week, Ishikawa-san, a man who makes Namahage masks for a living, will be at the museum, carving masks and talking to people. When he will be there is difficult to predict, so the best policy is to just go and hope you see him.
Anyway, first you will want to head to watch the documentary. It is a 15-minute-long film, showing footage from the actual event, as well as explaining the history and the legends about it.
After the screening, head over to the exhibition hall with all the masks. Sometimes you will have very little time here before the demonstration starts, but you can always come back later. So, if you are pressed for time, just blast through the exhibition, go to the demonstration, and then go check the exhibit afterwards.
To see the demonstration, head through the exhibit hall, through the souvenir store (come back later, because the souvenirs are great) and out the door. After exiting, turn right and you will see a small house with a thatched roof on the other side of a little bridge. This is where they do the demonstration.