The Northern prefecture of Akita, it could be said, is a firm favorite for people with an affinity for the outdoors. Populated with awe-inspiring mountains and luscious forestry, the connection to nature in Akita is a key strength that attracts visitors all year round. Much like its natural wonders, the events calendar for Akita’s seasonal festivals is rich and plentiful, with dates dotting from the sweltering summer to the wistful winter. As a major rice-producing region, it is characterized by many traditions and events that pray for a bountiful harvest.
Akita Kanto Festival
One of the three great Tohoku festivals, alongside Aomori’s Nebuta and Sendai’s Tanabata, the Akita Kanto celebration takes place in early August (3-6). Akita Kanto is an event held in midsummer to ward off evil spirits and illness while praying for a bountiful harvest. It showcases skill and the beauty of techniques, with dozens of performers balancing their kanto (a long, bamboo pole) as they cascade through the main street. Adorned with paper lanterns that are illuminated by candlelight, these kanto can reach up to 12 meters in height and 50 kilograms in weight. During the Chuo Dori Night Parades, set to the beat of pounding drums, performing groups raise their kanto in unison and brighten the darkness, symbolizing the ears of rice that have grown heavy with a bountiful harvest.
Omagari Fireworks
Not only is the Omagari Fireworks Festival regarded as one of the largest fireworks festivals in Japan, but it is also a competitive display of prestige. Designated as Japan’s only festival that features a daytime fireworks competition, the performance that takes place in Omagari pits pyrotechnicians against one another in a battle for the Prime Minister’s Prize. Each year, over half a million spectators are treated to a symphony of light and sound, as the scintillating colors are married with music and stories. This extravagant show of sensory sublimity takes place on the last Saturday of August, a bookend to the sweltering summer as Akita welcomes the first fallen leaves of fall.
Hiburi Kamakura
While many festivals in Japan take place during the heat of summer, many festivals in Akita are also held during the winter. The Hiburi Kamakura occurs in February, celebrating a different kind of warmth. In this event, a rope about one meter long is tied to a charcoal sack, which is then set on fire. Participants hold the end of the rope and swing the burning sack around their bodies. The sacred fire is believed to ward off misfortune in the rice fields while also praying for the health and safety of one’s family and a year of overall well-being.
Namahage Sedo Festival
It is a traditional event held every February at Shinzan Shrine in Oga City, Akita Prefecture.
The festival is characterized by Namahage descending from the mountain carrying torches. With their terrifying, demon-like faces and roaring cries echoing through the area, they create a powerful spectacle that leaves spectators awestruck.
The Namahage is a traditional folk ritual originating in the Oga region. Every year on New Year’s Eve, Namahage go from house to house, asking, “Are there any lazy people?” or “Are there any misbehaving children?”—acting as divine messengers who drive away misfortune and bring blessings. The Oga Namahage plays a vital role in strengthening community ties and fostering intergenerational interaction. Its cultural significance has been recognized internationally, and it has been inscribed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage under “Visiting Deities: Masked and Costumed Gods.
Nishimonai Bon Dance
The Obon period in Japan is a deeply spiritual and reverent holiday, wherein families reconnect with their loved ones who have passed. The Nishimonai Bon Odori, also known as the Mouja-Odori (Dance for Ancestral Memorial Rites), exemplifies this thinning of lines between the living world and the afterlife. Taking place in the town of Ugo, from August 16 to 18, this festival charts a history of over 700-years. During Mouja-Odori, the streets of Ugo become the stage for a captivating performance of melancholic dance. With performers dressed in colorful yukata, juxtaposed with faces obscured by black cloth, this attire perfectly reflects the themes of Nishimonai Bon Odori, the joy in sadness. The ethereal dance typifies the beautiful sorrows of respecting those passed, by celebrating their lives with a rhapsody of fireside sway.
Kakunodate Festival (Yama Events)
Returning to Kakunodate, a procession of floats marks the Matsuri No Yama, a festival filled with prayer. This event is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage as part of the “Yama, Hoko, Yatai” tradition. With a history dating back over 400 years, this spiritual parade combines the Shinmyo Shrine and Yakushido festivals. With prayers for prosperity, health, and social cohesion, these spiritual requests travel by float to the Shinmeisha and Yakushido shrines, with their destination being the household of the Satake Kita family, the governors of Kakunodate during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868). The floats are pulled by young men and women, while an oyamabayashi (musician) accompanies the procession with an orchestra of sound, reaching its climax as the floats and the prayers they are carrying reach their terminus.
The Importance of Festivals
Seasonal festivals hold a spectrum of meanings for participants. They may be held to pray for a bountiful harvest, like the Kanto Festival, or more reverent testaments to tradition and life, displayed in Nishimonai’s Bon Odori. Festivals may signify a coming together of friends and family, though thanks to the array of fantastical performances, local treats, and historical curiosities, these events have also attracted a large audience of foreign visitors.
The wide array of festivals that take place across Akita annually ensures that there is an event to satiate all palates. From the dizzying spectacle of summer fireworks to the warming embrace of a winter bonfire, Akita always promises a spiritually engaging experience for all its guests.
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