Hina Dolls Displayed Until March 20 in Kakunodate

Hina Matsuri, the Japanese doll festival will be celebrated on March 3. As it is approaching, the dolls have been displayed in family homes and businesses around town – in Kakunodate, you can see various types of hina dolls from different regions and eras only in one day!

The ornamental dolls represent a scene of an emperor’s and are displayed for girls in a family. The tradition is said to have a thousand-year old history since the Heian era.

Kakunodate has served as an important castle town for many centuries. The dolls found here uniquely reflect the owner’s family history. Some traditional merchants may preserve dolls that have been passed down over generations.

Kakunodate Hina Meguri is a tourism campaign by Kakunodate Tourism Association. Many such traditional businesses are encouraged to display their collections so the beauty of the dolls is shared with the visitors to town.

Ando Jozo, a brewery of soy sauce and miso in Kakunodate, is a family-owned merchant established in mid-1800. The family has handed down such beautiful hina dolls over the generations.

Several different sets are on display inside the brick and wooden structure that was built in the Meiji era, which has been designated as Kakunodate Town’s historic site.

Another impressive display can be found at Tatetsuya, a souvenir shop near the post office. This family is also one of oldest in town and passes down gorgeous dolls. You can find 3-dimensional as well as 2-dimensional ones of a technique known as “Oshie,” or pressed picture.

The other side of town known as Nakamachi (“inner town”) is where families of higher class have resided traditionally. So, you can imagine other kinds of dolls are found there.



Hina Dolls at Tatetsuya



Take this unique shop, Neko no Mise Namekawa (猫の店　滑川）.

Yes, that’s right – this is a special store for cat-related goods! At this small shop, you can find many hand-made goods with cute kitties :) This is a place you must stop – You will find something special even if you were not a cat lover!

Namekawa also shares with you their beautiful hina dolls! They are quite interesting – the pieces were collected individually over different eras. The owner, while working with her needles, said “I didn’t really know about our dolls until a few years ago when this Hina Meguri campaign began. Some knowledgeable tourists gave me some hints – then I started to learn about them little by little.”

“A lady once pointed out that the byobu screen with Mt.Fuji painted is actually rare. We figured out that it derives from the Taisho era, when Japan was proceeding on a war footing. It represents the patriotism of that time” says the lady.

Some uncommon pieces related to Japanese folklores such as Shitakiri Suzume and Urashima Taro (left and right in photo below) – those are also considered to be from the same era as well.

Hina dolls collection at Neko no mise Namekawa

The festival will be celebrated nationwide over the weekend, but the display campaign will continue until March 20th. When you come to Semboku City, make sure you stop at places to see the dolls!

Have You Seen These Eye-Catching Posters? - Another Akita Bijin Tourism Campaign by Akita City!

Have you seen this poster?

If you have, you would certainly remember it: this eye-catching poster has been much talked about since when it was first introduced last month.

This poster, titled “Akita Bijin Silent Message,” was created by Akita Convention and Visitors Bureau in an attempt to improve the public image of Akita City.

As the title suggests, Akita’s beautiful women (“Akita Bijin”) are the featured concept: Each of the seven shows a face voicing a letter, and when all are combined, it makes up a “message”.

In a quiz manner, the campaign invites you to submit the answer on a website. Among those who guess the right answer, 100 will be drawn and given “Akita” prizes that include free hotel tickets and presents!



Click to enter in the campaign.



The  posters have been put up at various places like JR stations in Tokyo metropolitan area and some hotels around Akita City. For the popularity, 3,500 entries were submitted within the first 2 weeks – even some people are inquiring as to whereabouts to obtain a copy!

The posters were created “in high hopes of encouraging more people to visit Akita City and try our cuisine and sake”, says the concept designer of the Akita Bureau.

To enter, you need to submit your answer by February 29th. Posters with a correct answer will be available from the following day, March 1.

Such tourism campaign by Akita City, as well as ours by Semboku City, featured Akita Bijin (秋田美人）as the main concept. Although it is only one of many beautiful attractions that we offer, this approach has been successful in catching people’s attention – Hasn’t it worked with you? Now, you really have to come visit us!

2012 Tazawako Kogen Snow Festival [Highlight]

The 2012 Tazawako Kogen Snow Festival took place over the weekend, February 17 – 19 at Tazawako Ski Area. Despite the uneasy weather, many people visited from far cities and enjoyed the last snow festival in Semboku City!

Let’s remember this year’s event in the photos. The followings are the highlights of each day:

Friday, February 17th

At 17:00 – The festival was started with a memorable ceremony. This year was the first held after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. To remind us of such memorable occurrence that united us all in Tohoku, a number of candles were lit in a shape of Tohoku.



Candle Lanterns in shape of Tohoku and a word of Kizuna ("Solidarity")

 

The center circle is our Lake Tazawa!

 

Hand-made with recycled cans with wishes of local residents and Miyagi students.



"Tohoku Recovery", "World Peace"





Each lantern was hand-made with recycled aluminum can by the hands of local people and Tohoku Gakuin Junior High School students from Miyagi Prefecture. They embedded special messages, especially related to the Tohoku area’s recovery and reconstruction. The Junior High School Students, later, released their kamifusen balloons with their wishes written to reaching for the sky. 

We couldn’t help but felt personal as a member of the Tohoku community!

At 18:00 – At the stage, the lighting ceremony was held, at which the snow sculptors were awarded. Also, free sake and amasake were given to the guests to commemorate the annual event.



These snowmen will be shown for 2 months on
NHK Educational Channel's popular program, Nihongo-de-Asobo! 

The first place was a team of local green tourism organization, Fureai Kyogikai.

The illuminated snow castle looked just like out of a fantasy world! Very beautiful!

From 18:00 to 21:00 – Food tents were open with lots of warm and delicious foods. These tents were open through the 3-day event.

 



Many different types of foods:
Bear soup, Stone-baked Sweet Potatoes, Spiral-shaped fried potatoes,
broiled Japanese char, Akita's signature Kiritanpo,
"Tornado sausages", Takoyaki, Yakitori, Spicy ramen noodle soup, and lottery for prizes!

Saturday, February 18th

At 13:00 – Treasure Hunt in the Snow was held for the daytime attraction! The rule was pretty simple: You choose a rope and pull when it is cued. Your treasure ranged from a pair hotel ticket, a buffet ticket, bathing powder packets, candies, and beers (lucky if you are an adult)! Not only the children but also adults participated in the game and had a great time!

The golden kunimasu fish is the first prize -- a pair hotel ticket at Kyukamura Nyuto Onsenkyo

 

Meanwhile, near the food tents, Tazawako Ski School gave a surprise mochi-pounding activity! Steamed sweet rice was pounded with traditional wooden mallet and mortar. This practice has been less commonly seen in Japan, so that many people gathered to catch a glimpse and participate in the pounding! After that, the delicious (really, mouthwatering just to think of it.) fresh mochi cakes were served in three different styles: kinako (soy bean powder), anko (red bean paste), and in a soup.

Mochi-Pounding was demonstrated.

Very soft and delicious -- Mochi with kinako (top), in soup (left) and anko (right).

At 18:00 – The evening ceremony started with a performance of Tazawako Ryujin Taiko.

Tazawako Ryujin Daiko Performance

Shortly after, the Tohoku-shaped lanterns were lit as the previous night, and sake and amazake were given to the guests. Meanwhile, Two of the traditional snow festivals in Semboku City were demonstrated. This was a rare opportunity for the visitors to see and participate in the mini-version of the traditional festivals held at different locations and days.

Kakundate Town's Hiburikamakura

Nishiki's Kamifusen


At 19:30 – Hinowa-kuguri (fire ring performance) were held by professional demonstrators and thrilled the audience.

Hinowa-Kuguri (Fire-Ring) Demonstration

Another trademark attraction of the festival is Taimatsu-kasso, a march of skiers with torches in hands, was held on the steepest Kuromori slope. This year was especially meaningful – instead of simply coming down the slope, the torches prepared in the shape of a kanji character was lit one by one. In a minute, the fire revealed a symbolic word of the past year – kizuna, meaning “solidarity,” that was used by many in hopes of Japan’s recovery.

Kizuna means Solidarity

At 20:10 – Fireworks show in the snow is the trademark of Tazawako Kogen Snow Festival. This has been what many people visit there for: Colors of fireworks are even brighter in the crisp, freezing air. The fireworks are crafted by an award-winning company in Omagari City.

Fireworks in the snow!

Sunday, February 19th

Although Day 3 is almost half-day, there were two main attractions held for family visitors.

Around noon, a rare sight of all 9 different local characters all together was on stage.  The 9 characters came from areas around Semboku City. From left, the Omotenashi 3 Brothers (Fukainda, Iyasunda, Nukuinda), Nairikkun, O-Umechan, Tsutsudon (from Daisen City), Takkochan, Donpan-Jiccha, and Sugicchi.

At 13:00 -- Treasure hunt in the snow took place as the previous day, in which many adults participated and found some treasures! Later, at 14:00, there was a stage performance of Chojin Neiga, which welcomed many kids and alike to the site. Their humorous plot entertained us all – as usual!

Tazawako Kogen Snow Festival takes place annually in late February!

This signals the end of snow festivals in Semboku City.

What’s coming next? – Spring!

Capture the Essence of Akita Winter - In Hana Tour's Akita Promotion Video !

Our Snow season begins in December and ends in March or April. The mountains and rice paddies are covered with thick snow. Despite the coldness, there are many things to warm you up in Akita Prefecture: hot springs, food, and people.

Hana Tour, a Korean Travel Agency, has just released a promotion video about Akita Prefecture! The video captures the essence of the beauty of Akita winter. In the video, two girls visit Tsurunoyu Hot Spring in Nyuto Hot Spring area and many other places in Yokote City and Oga City. Other Tazawako locations include Plaza Hotel Sanrouso's Kosoburo ("Enzyme Bath"), Komagatake Kanko Hotel, and IRIS Museum at JR Tazawako Station.

This week in February is a busy week for all of us in Semboku City. We have many traditional snow festivals such as Nishiki's Kamifusen (Giant Paper Lanterns) Festival and Kakunodate's Hiburikamakura Fesitival (Fire-Swinging) Festival. In Tazawako, from today till Sunday ,we will have a snow festival at Tazawako Ski Area in Tazawako Plateau.

 

If you are fond of such winter scenery, we hope you make it before the snow is gone in early April!

Find Your Favorite Hina Dolls in Kakunodate: Sign Up for A Walking Tour and Stamp Rally For Special Services!

February to early March is when we begin to see the decorations of hina dolls all over Japan: It is when we celebrate the girls on hinamatsuri, the Hina Festival, on March 3.

Kakunodate Town, a town known for its rustic historical scenery, is also dubbed as Little Kyoto of Tohoku. Here, you can recollects the memories from the Samurai era with the houses and items that has been passed down over generations.

From February 18 to March 20, many shops in town display their family-owned hina dolls and make them available for public viewing; meanwhile, they offer you special discounts and festival-themed souvenirs available only during this time.

Finding your favorite dolls when playing it by ear is thrilling! But, if your time is limited as a traveler, you might want to consider singing-up for a hina doll tour guided by a local person who knows the best places to stop by – so here it is:

This guided walking tour takes you to different locations in Kakunodate Town. Starting from Katsuragi (a gallery), you will be guided to several main spots in town. The tour is only 1,000 Yen (Course A: 1,000 Yen) or with lunch (Course B: 3,500 Yen). You will be given a little souvenir :) Sign up in a group of more than 2 people and 2 days ahead.

You can also have more extended experience taking a local train decorated for the festival. 

“Stamp Rally” will be held during the campaign. What is it? With a sheet with some blank spaces, you will visit different places in town and have it stamped. When it reaches 10 stamps, you can exchange it with a present at Katsuragi. At the stamping locations, you will receive special discounts and services. The places are shown in the tables in the map below.

Click to see a bigger image

Other guided activities in town? Try Kakunodate Winter Storytelling at the Iwahashi Residence.