On August 3rd, the neputa of the JR East Akita branch office's tourism PR character "Tsuga Nyan" was revived from the "damage".

“Tsuga Nyan” is a cat character and along with a dog character named “Akio”, it disseminates tourism information on Tsugaru and Akita mainly through SNS. Since February 2022, the Tsuganyan Neputa, which is a red goldfish Neputa worn on the head, has been on display at Hirosaki Station.

The Hirosaki Neputa Festival, which started on August 1st, has been canceled for two years in a row, so this year's joint operation will be the first in three years. The Tsuganyan Neputa was scheduled to appear on the front stage of the Neputa group "JR/Ekimae District Neputa Lovers' Association" and bring excitement to the big stage.

Unfortunately, it rained on August 2nd, the first day of the battle, with occasional heavy rains. The Tsuganyan Neputa was soaked in the rain while it was in operation, and according to a person involved in the operation, it suffered "desperately large damage", and it was considered to cancel the rest of the operation.

The person concerned said, "I participated in the Hirosaki Neputa Festival for the first time in three years. I participated in it with all my heart. We consulted whether we could restore it so that it could be operated for the sake of tourists and locals who came from afar. We agreed that it would be possible to fix it with cooperation," he said.

After the damaged Tsuganyan Neputa went into operation on August 2, an emergency request was made to the manufacturer, Tsugaru-han Neputa Village (Kikko-cho, Hirosaki City), for repairs. Starting early in the morning of the 3rd, they spent five hours re-pasting, bleaching, and coloring the paper. Kazuhiro Hiyama of the Tsugaru Domain Neputa Village, who was in charge of the production, said, "I brought two elite Neputa makers with me. It was a difficult 'surgery' in a limited amount of time, but it went off without a hitch. The Hirosaki Neputa Festival. I hope you can enjoy it to the end,” he said with a smile.

The Tsuganyan Neputa was revived during the joint operation on August 3rd. Due to its adorable appearance, many onlookers along the route pointed their cameras and smartphones at it.

The Tsuganyan Neputa will run on August 5th and 6th.