The Nebuta Festival colors the streets of summer in the northeastern Tohoku region of Japan. What draws the attention of all is the brilliant and enormous "Nebuta" with its fierce warrior face, giving it a lively, forceful presence. This power is the secret behind the fascination of Nebuta. Its origins trace back over 300 years, when it started out as a custom to exorcise bad luck by setting a small lantern adrift on a river or ocean. Taking in influences from other parts of the country during a time of land development in the Edo Period (1603-1868), the Nebuta grew to be dazzling and gigantic. We will enjoy three marks of beauty the Nebuta Festival has to offer: three dimensional shaping, black sumi ink, and red of passion.