This venue boasts a number of amusing spaces and workshops designed to showcase the traditions of the Aomori region: spinning tops, kokeshi dolls, pottery, lacquer ware, shamisen, tea houses, etc. Hirosaki Neputa-no-Yakata Museum exhibits strange festival floats topped with huge illuminated screens or giant fans used during the famous Neputa Matsuri festival. The word neputa (sleepy) refers to a custom whereby farmers placed giant lanterns on the banks of the river in order to stay awake when going home late at night after a hard day in the fields.