A hundred snow igloos and 3,500 miniature ones: inside, children offer amazake to anyone who comes in.
On the Janogasaki riverbed, along the river, about a hundred kamakura (igloos of packed snow, about three metres high, with a small altar inside for the water deity) are lit in the evening together with three thousand five hundred miniatures scattered around the city. Inside each kamakura, children and teenagers offer passers-by amazake (a sweet non-alcoholic sake) and grilled mochi, inviting them to come in and pray.
The modern festival was born in 1954 from the union of three separate traditions: the kamakura, which date back about 450 years; the bonden rite (decorated poles carried as offerings to shrines), about 280 years old; and the snow sculptures, begun in 1939. An Intangible Folk Cultural Property of the city of Yokote since 2000.
ℹ️ Traditionally held on 15–16 February; from 2026, on a trial basis until 2029, it takes place instead on the second Friday and Saturday of February (in 2026: 13–14 February). Free entry, on the Janogasaki riverbed and at other spots around the city.
🚉 Yokote · 16 min walk
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