🏮 Yokote no Yuki Matsuri

横手の雪まつり

Yokote, Akita (Yokote City Hall Main Building Front, Yokote Park, Asahiokayama Shrine, and Others) · Kamakura: mid-February (tentatively the 2nd Friday and Saturday from 2026 to 2029); Bondon: 16–17 February

Snow festival

Official site →

151 days to go
Rooms around Yokote, Akita fill up while the festival is on.

Check availability

Yokote's Snow Festival is held every February in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture, and is a comprehensive winter event organized by the Yokote City Tourism Association. Centered on the area in front of the Yokote City Hall main building, Yokote Park, and Asahigaoka Shrine, it combines three elements: kamakura (snow huts), bonden, and snow art. The kamakura are a Little New Year event with about 450 years of history, in which an altar is set up inside a snow hut to enshrine the water deity. The bonden has about 280 years of history and is characterized by ornate head decorations. The snow sculpture exhibition 'Snow Art' began in 1939, and in 1954 these events were integrated as the 'Snow Festival.' At the venues, dome-shaped 'model kamakura' are lined up, and children call out 'Haittetanse' while offering amazake and rice cakes. In the bonden procession, participants parade through the city streets with the calls of 'Joyasa, Joyasa' and the bonden song, and finally dedicate it at Asahigaoka Shrine.

Getting there

During the festival, free shuttle buses operate, with routes connecting each kamakura venue and routes connecting temporary parking lots with the venues. Operating hours are from about 17:40 to 21:00, with buses running at intervals of about 10 minutes.