The Aomori City PTA Association (hereafter referred to as the City P-ren) is currently calling on elementary and junior high school students in Aomori City to participate in the Nebuta operation under the name of "A cliff edge! City P-ren Large Nebuta Operation Project!"

Junko Yaesawa, vice chairman of the city P-ren, said, "The large-scale Nebuta festival is an important project that has been carried out for the purpose of passing on traditional culture to children. This year marks the 40th year. The number of participating children and students has increased since 2004. After peaking at 2,296 in 2004, it decreased by about 75% to 585 in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.In order to continue the business in the future, we conducted a series of interviews and discussions to find out the cause."

As a result of discussions, it was decided that if a total of 500 children and students do not gather during this year's festival period, this year's operation will be the last and the project will be abolished in the future.

Mr. Yaesawa said, "I'm not thinking about abolishing Nebuta. I don't mean it in a negative way, but to provide opportunities for more children and students to experience Nebuta. For example, for children and students who were unable to participate because they were unable to prepare or dress in costumes, they were able to participate in school shorts, T-shirts, headbands, sashes, and shigoki. I hope you can participate in the Nebuta and create a page of memories of your summer vacation,” he said with a smile.

Applications for participation are accepted on the city's homepage. Until July 12th.