Things to do in Yamagata Prefecture, Tohoku: The Best Events

Hanagasa is the word for 'flower hat' in Japanese. At the Yamagata Hanagasa festival, over 10,000 dancers with beautiful traditional straw hats decorated with the prefecture's blossom, the safflower, take to the main street street for three days of intricately costumed parade. The procession is led daily by a series of floats that are sumptuously decorated, with dancers and musicians trailing behind, shouting 'Yassho! Makkasho!' Dances alternate between graceful, precisely choreographed works, and more modern, eclectic performances. Each individual dance troupe has up to 100 members.

Yamagata Prefecture's largest fireworks show draws an average of over 200,000 spectators annually. Hosted on the bank of the Su River in Yamagata City, the festival features over 20,000 fireworks-fireworks in the shape of anime characters, fireworks that spell out messages, tetsuzu firework hand cannons, and more. Besides the bustling street stalls near the launch site, there are numerous parks and viewing platforms that provide excellent vantage points from which to watch the show from a variety of angles.

This fireworks festival is held the first Saturday in August every year in Sakata, Yamagata. Said to be the largest in the Tohoku region, the festival is set on the Mogami River in Sakata and features 12,000 fireworks. "Kiss of Fire" starmines, explosive fusillades of "shaku-tama" fireworks, fireworks shaped like anime characters that are popular with the kids, fireworks that spell out heartfelt messages-all are brilliantly reflected in the water. The impressive finale features a massive "Niagara Falls" display spanning 2 kilometers: don't miss it!

A winter festival in Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture, known as the castle town of the Uesugi clan. Every year, on the second Saturday and Sunday of February, about 300 snow lanterns and 1,000 snow lamps are lit up. One of the festival's concepts is appreciation and a requiem to one's anscestors, and their everlasting peace. In Matsugasaki Park a huge "Requiem Tower," is built of snow,and a requiem festival is held for the war dead. Another concept is hospitality. Let's enjoy the gourmet products of Yonezawa in the "Tent Village Product Exhibition," a collection of local and regional specialties such as Yonezawa ramen, beef skewers, and tamakonnyaku.

The Zao Juhyo Festival is held in southeastern Yamagata City, at Zao Onsen, which is in the southern foothills of the Mount Zao range. Zao Onsen is considered one of Japan's premier ski destinations. From late December through early March, a range of events are held in conjunction with the festival. One famous event is the 1,000 Man Torch Run, where skiers with torches descend the slopes. There is also a winter fireworks festival lighting up the slopes, and a big snowplow show of the machinery used to brave the winter precipitation.