Famous winter festivals
Winter festivals in Japan go from snow sculptures to fire and demons. This lesson gives you the words for snow, fire, floats and crowds, so you can plan a trip, ask about a festival and talk about it afterwards. Tap to hear any line. The bar at the bottom plays a hands-free drill for walking.
About these festivals
December and January. At (Chichibu, Saitama, 2–3 December) huge floats hung with lanterns are hauled through the town at night under winter fireworks. On New Year's Eve on the Oga Peninsula in Akita, men dressed as なまはげ, in demon masks and straw capes, visit homes roaring at children to behave; visitors can see them at a festival in February. At the fire festival (Nagano, 15 January) villagers attack a tall wooden shrine with burning torches while men aged 25 and 42 defend it, then it's set alight.
February. The (Sapporo, about a week in early February) fills Odori Park with giant snow and ice sculptures. In Yokote, Akita (15–16 February), children sit in candle-lit snow huts, かまくら, and invite visitors in for amazake and mochi. At (Okayama, third Saturday of February) thousands of men in loincloths scramble in the dark for two lucky sticks thrown from a temple window.
These are the usual dates and they can shift, so check before you go. Hotels nearby often fill up months ahead.
25 festival-trip words
Each card shows a word and a sentence for planning a trip to a winter festival or talking about one. Six reuse words from earlier lessons.
Six festivals at a glance
Where and when, roughly, and one word that goes with each.
| Festival | Where and when | Key word |
|---|
- Dress for it. Sapporo and Akita are often well below zero at night. Stick-on hand warmers, カイロ, are sold at every convenience store.
- or ? Most visitors watch. A few festivals let visitors take part if they sign up first, so ask.
- Floats. is the general word for festival floats. Some towns have their own name for them, such as in Chichibu.
Four patterns to use today
Say it in Japanese
Say each one out loud before you reveal the answer. Getting close counts.