Nine snow festivals in Japan
Nine snow festivals in Japan
gadaventures.com
Let it snow!
There's something magical about Japan in winter... Especially when it snows, under illuminations, and even fireworks, the first snowflakes are often synonymous with festivities around the country. A tradition that can be found in particular throughout the northern part of the country, as shown by these nine snow festivals.
1. Sapporo Snow Festival (Hokkaido)
Created in the 1950s, the Sapporo Snow Festival is probably the most popular Japanese festival of the season. Each year, more than 2 million visitors come to admire its immense snow sculptures, and open-air works of art, each more beautiful than the next.
Sapporo Snow Festival
intojapan.co.uk
It must also be said that the festival thinks big! Spread over three different locations (Odori, Tsudome, and Susukino), it showcases the finest snow has to offer. And whether through its sculpture competitions that bring together participants from all over the world, its toboggan runs to set up for the occasion, or its immaculate labyrinth, the Sapporo Snow Festival continues to amaze generations and generations of festival-goers each winter.
Useful information
Address:
Odori: Nishi1-chome-Nishi 12-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
Tsudome Park: 885-1, Sakaemachi, Higashi-ku, Sapporo
Susukino Park : sapporoshichuokuminami 4 jōnishi 4-1, 064-0804 Hokkaido
Dates: from February 31 to 11, 2020, until 11 pm in Odori, from 9 am to 5 pm in Tsudome, and until 10 pm around Susukino station.
Admission: free
Route: around Odori (Namboku, Toho, Tozai lines), Sakaemachi (Toho line), and Susukino (Namboku, Sapporo-shinden lines) stations
2. Kamihinokinai (Akita) Paper Balloon Festival
Located in the small town of Semboku in Akita prefecture, the Kamihinokinai winter festival is based on an ancestral art, that of Ukiyo-e prints.
Every February 10, a hundred huge paper lanterns are then released into the air to the delight of the participants. Lanterns were previously decorated with prints of samurai and geisha, which fly away against the backdrop of a snowy landscape.
The paper balloon festival
jnto.co.jp
Useful information
Address : Nishikicho, Kamihinokinai, Semboku, 014-0601
Dates: February 10, from 5 pm to 7 pm.
Admission: free
Itinerary: a few minutes from Kamihinokinai station (Akita - Nairiku-Jukan-Tetsudo line)
3. Hirosaki Castle Snow Lantern Festival (Aomori)
A figurehead of the region, Hirosaki Castle has fascinated the curious who have ventured to Aomori for centuries. Especially when the days get shorter, since the latter hosts around a hundred kamakura each year, small traditional snow lanterns.
With its illuminations, its exhibitions of works of art, and its toboggan runs, the Hirosaki snow lantern festival has everything to seduce young and old.
The Hirosaki Lantern Festival
gajinpot
Useful information
Address: Hirosaki Park, Hirosaki-shi, Shimoshiroganecho, 036-8356
Dates: from February 8 to 11, 2019, from 9 am to 10 pm.
Admission: free
Directions: 20 min on foot from Chuohirosaki station (Konan-Tetsudo-Owani line)
4. Aizu Lantern Festival (Fukushima)
At the foot of Aizuwakamatsu Castle, the Aizu Winter Festival hosts around a hundred candles each year decorated in the image of the castle and Japanese culture. An event that is not devoid of meaning, since the festival is based on an old regional tradition: placing a candle near the tomb of one's ancestors every winter to soothe their souls.
If today the tradition seems to be lost in the region, Aizu festival candles would retain this mystical meaning. Their beauty would enchant the eyes, and their light would soothe the souls of the living who admire them in the middle of winter, with their feet in the snow.
Useful information
Address :1-1,Otemachi, Aizuwakamatsu-shi, Fukushima 965-0873
Dates: February 8 and 9, 2019, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Admission: adult 400 yen ($3.25/3€), child 150 yen ($1.25/1€)
Route: 20 min on foot from Nishi-Wakamatsu station ( Aizu-Tetsudo, Tadami lines )
5. Ouchijuku Snow Festival (Fukushima)
Organized every year on the second weekend of February in the small traditional village of Ouchijuku, this snow festival will delight lovers of the picturesque.
With its lanterns that illuminate the streets of the Edo period (1603-1868), the small traditional businesses that make up the latter, and the performances of Yokasoi that punctuate the festivities, the Ouchijuku snow festival is probably one of the matsuris of the most exotic winters in Japan.
Ouchijuku Snow Festival
tohokuandtokyo.org
Useful information
Address: Yamamoto Ouchi, Shimogo, Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Prefecture 969-5207
Dates: February 9 and 10, 2019
Admission: free
Itinerary: 10 min by taxi from Ashinomaki Onsen station (Aizu-Tetsudo line )
6. Urabandai Snow Festival (Fukushima)
Every year during the third weekend of February, the small village of Kitashiobara lights up. Indeed, 3,000 candles surrounded by ice are lit in the middle of nature as soon as the sun goes down. A nice way to revisit walks in the snow, which is also intended to be participatory since festival-goers are invited to leave a candle in their path.
Useful information
Address: Kitashiobara, Yama District, Fukushima Prefecture 966-0400
Dates: from February 15 to 17, 2019
Admission: free
Itinerary: 30 min by car from Inawashiro station (Ban-etsusai line )
Uranbandai Snow Festival
tif.net.jp
7. Yunishigawa Onsen Kamakura Festival (Toshigi)
Located in Nikko, 2h30 from Tokyo, Yunishigawa Onsen is an onsen village over 400 years old.
Although the establishment is full all year round, it is particularly popular from January to March when it hosts the kamakura festival, 1,000 small snow igloos inside which a candle is lit when the sun goes down.
For the occasion, visitors are invited to walk between the rows of igloos that are strewn outside and to go up along the river which borders the village. All this before diving into the hot springs, onsen.
Yunishigawa Onsen's Kamakura Festival
cdn-images.com
Useful information
Address: Yunshigawa, Nikko-city, Tochigi
Dates: from January 26 to March 3, 2019, from 9 am to 9 pm.
Admission: 510yen ($4.25/4€)
Itinerary: from Yunishigawa Onsen station (Aizu-Kinugawa line), take the NikkoKotsu bus and get off at the Honke Bankyu Ryokan Mae stop.
8. Zao Snow Monster Illuminations (Yamagata)
Far from referring to the spirits that could populate the Japanese mountains, the "Snow Monsters of Zao" actually refer to the snow-capped trees of Mount Zao, located in Yamagata Prefecture. The latter then take on funny shapes when the snow covers them, and delight the skiers of the Zao Onsen Ski Resort who had the idea of lighting up their ski slopes to see them better.
Zao's Snow Monsters
kantoadventures.com
Useful information
Address: Zaoonsen, Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture 990-2301
Dates: from 1 to 3 February 2019
Access to the ski slopes: 1-day adult pass 5,000 yen ($42.50/40€), 1-day child pass 2,500 yen ($21.25/19€).
Directions 40 min by bus from Yamagata Station (Aterawa, Senzai, Yamagata, Yamagata Shinkansen lines), Zao Onsen Bus stop.
9. Tokamachi Snow Festival (Niigata)
Every year in mid-February, the city of Tokamachi organizes its snow festival, an event that hosts snow sculptures, kimono parades, and fireworks for the delight of festival-goers.
Useful information
Address: Tokamachi, Niigata 948-0048
Dates: from February 15 to 17, 2019, from 9 am to 9:30 pm on Friday and Saturday, and from 9 am to 3 pm on Sunday.
Admission: free
Itinerary: around To kamachi station ( Hokuhoku, Iiyama lines )
The Tokamachi Snow Festival
tokyonarita.jp
