This year's "Hirosaki Neputa Festival" was canceled due to a fatal accident due to an elevator inside Neputa on August 5, but each participating group conducted a voluntary tour to pay the festival on August 6.

The "Hirosaki Neputa Festival," which started on August 1, was canceled due to the accident. It was the first time for an accident to be canceled since 1958 (Showa 33), which began in the current form.

One of the Neputa participating groups, "Genmansha", is the only group among all the groups that carries the type of Neputa that they carry and illuminates the Neputa with the light of a candle that does not use electricity. On August 6th, we toured the city of Kaji, a downtown area of the city, in the rain.

All the members wore a mourning badge and did not play Hayashi. “I wanted to get rid of this year's Neputa,” says Kazutaka Yamamoto of the same organization. After the cruise, I offered a silent silence, and ended with the "Yayadaw", the voice of Hirosaki Neputa.

"Death Dead Neputa People" is an organization that has participated in "Hirosaki Neputa Festival" for more than 40 years in a row and has participated in contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara from the city. As a result of the decision to cancel the festival, and after discussing whether something could be done, "I would like the tourists to take at least a picture of Neputa" and placed Neputa in front of JR Hirosaki station. Despite the voluntary activities, the people involved in the event responded swiftly and obtained permission immediately.

Shunichi Nakagawa of the group said, “There were tourists who finally saw Neputa over the last two years. I was happy to see how happy they were and I was able to do it.” “I only travel around Neputa every year, so I never had the opportunity to talk with tourists visiting Hirosaki. It was a valuable experience.”

Neputa burns on the last day of the festival, ending the year. It is called "Nanukabi Okuri" and has the meaning of purifying with flames and ascending. Since the event was canceled this year, each group gathered at the "Neputa hut" where Neputa is stored, and the last Neputa this year was spared.