Come to Tazawako Plateau Snow Festival on Feb 17-19 !!!

DETAILS IN ENGLISH IS DOWN BELOW.

Tazawako Plateau Snow Festival is an annual event held at Tazawako Ski Area. The 3-days event welcomes approximately 20,000 visitors every year. The festival is known for the beautiful fireworks, snow statues, and a demonstration of local traditional snow festivals!

During the day, the Neiga Show, a stage performance by Akita’s popular superhero group, is scheduled as expected, as well as Treasure Hunt in the Snow, a new game that will replace the Kecchizori Contest, a butt-sliding contest, of the previous years!

Unfortunately, we do not have Kecchizori Contest this year, for the committee’s decision to carry it out every two years. But the Treasure Hunt will be full of surprises – We promise you a memorable time for both children and adults.

At night there will be a free sake and amazake (non-alcoholic unfiltered sake). The snow statues will be illuminated and there will be a memorial illumination with about 20,000 candle lanterns made of recycled cans – like this one.

The tentative schedule is announced as follows:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17.

17:00 – 21:00 Recycled Can Candle Lanterns Lighted.

18:00 – 21:00 Illumination Ceremony

                       Sake and Amazake Service

                       Snow Statue Contest Awarding Ceremony

18:00 – 21:00 Food Tents Available

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18.

10:00 – 21:00 Food Tent

13:00 – 14:00 Treasure Hunt in the Snow

17:00 – 21:00 Roadside candles lighted.

17:30 --         Illumination Ceremony, Sake and Amazake Service

18:00 – 18:30 Hiburi Kamakura Demonstration

18:45 – 19:30 Kamifusen-Age Demonstration

19:30 – 20:00 Torch March and Fire Ring Performance by the ski instructors

20:10 – 20:30 Firework Show

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19.

10:00 – 15:00 Food Tents Available

13:00 –14:00 Treasure Hunt in the Snow

14:00 –15:00 the Neiga Show

*The schedule may change without a notice due to the weather condition.

MORE INFO: Tazawako Tourist Information Center FOLAKE 0187-43-2111

Want to Act in Chojin-Neiga Show? Sign Up for the Lesson!

Akita Chojin Neiga is a local super hero show that is very popular in Akita Prefecture. The production company also manages an athletic training gym in Akita City called Akita Ken.

 

The casts have been trained in lessons at one of their training gym facility in Nikaho City. This month, the company has decided to start lessons at another location in Akita City to increase the chances for the future cast candidates.

Chojin Neiga (Photo/Akita Keizai Shinbun)

Anybody interested can sign up for this lesson. The lesson does not have any specific eligibility requirements: The candidate for the show will be chosen from the participants in accordance with his or her talented genre – in not only the action movement but also the microphone performances, acting skills, talking, etc.

The lessons will be held every Tuesday from 19:00, and the fee is 3,000 yen per person. The lesson is available for observation as well.

(Source/ Akita Keizai Shinbun)

Meet the Local Superhero: Chojin-Neiga Show in Tazawako

Chojin-neiga （超神ネイガー） was the main event held on Day 3 of Tazawako Snow Festival.

Chojin-neiga is very popular superhero in Akita Prefecture. The group was established by a local gym manager and a former professional wrestler and have been gaining popularity from children to adults, with their meticulously localized contents in the language, plot, and stage props.

The dialogue is heavily in Akita dialect, which also employs concepts based on Akita’s local culture. Chojin-neiga refers the protagonist characters and dajagu-kumiai ("Evil Union") is the antagonists. Chojin means “super-god” and Neiga derives from a famous line uttered by Namahage (an ogre that appears in a traditional festival in the Oga peninsula), “naguko-wa-inega” (is there anyone crying?)

The costumes also represent Akita's specialties: Kiritan-sword (of Kiritanpo), Buriko-gun (that shoots sandfish roe), and Kamakura-knuckle (a igloo-shaped glove)

Chojin-neiga  (超神ネイガー）Show

The Chojin-neiga has appeared in TV/radio shows and comic books. It also has been introduced on a nationwide variety show as a prefectural stereotype: Chojin-neiga is Akita people’s common obsession and “their TV show drive people out of the streets.”

The show is humorous and also has a moral teaching! That is why it is popular for both adults and children!

Tazawako Snow Festival 2010

Tazawako Snow Festival 2010 has ended as a big success, bringing about 26,000 people to Tazawako Area. Thank you to all those people who traveled from in and out of Akita prefecture!

(''Welcome to Tazawako''.. with a wish to bring many people from everywhere!)

(Many people look forward to seeing the snow statues and kamakura. )

This year we had added a new event on our list of regular event menu…. Yes, of course、we did have the snow statues and fireworks along with the Yatai, foodstands with various kinds of hot foods. Those are not what I’m talking about here, but who would expect to have a butt-sliding contest, especially designed for adults like you!　

First, if you haven’t gotten the idea, watch this youtube preview..

''Ketchi-zori Taikai'' (The Butt-sliding Contest)

YES it's the butt-sliding that you have enjoyed or at least dreamed about as a child!  That was a great opportunity to show off your sliding skills, acting like a child, screaming and shouting. This is a valid excuse  for you to be doing this again! We all know that is purely for "a contest to win some cash for the family, you just had to do it" .....

Those who pre-entered to this contest were fathers and future-fathers along with some university students and alike who used to be children not so long ago. About 40 people had signed up in advance, but the anouncement had been spread and had brought almost triple of new-entries on the following day.

The photos could capture only the moments, but just imagine how much fun we have had!!!

(The children-at-heart waiting to show off!)

(Steep enough to get you thrilled?)

(So the race begins..)

(''Win some cash, Buddy!'')

(The time was measured by the professional and hard-core... machine!)

(Tadah!!!)

(''Go Daddy Go!'', his kids were cheering.)

 (This guy in business suit won the first place in the individual race!)

The real-time kids!

 

 

Big children!

More !

The awarding ceremony was held in the evening. The first prize was more than 160,000 yen (about $1700) in cash! There were some special prizes for the costumes, cheerfulness, and ''akita-bijin'' (Akita's beautiful girls), and so on.

(Awarded by the City Mayor, Mitsuhiro Kadowaki.)

The team who won the first place! Congrats!

The weather condition wasn’t the best, but luckily, we were able to see occasional blue skies and beautiful clouds. We had to cancel the hot-air balloon due to the risk by the strong winds, but we were able to have some up on the following day.  We hope to have a good weather next year!!

Here are some more photos of other attractions.

(Yatai, foodstands.)

(They were selling dishes with wild boar meat.)

(And some bear meat...)

Restaurant ORAE's Food Tent

 

There was a show performance of the local superhero characters, Chojin Neiga, which is extremely popular among children in Akita. It was one of the highlight of the day and gathered more than a hundred children and parents.

The main character, Neiga.

Perhaps the parents are more enthusiastic??

 

We hope everyone enjoyed the event as much as we did! Next year Tazawako Snow Festival is going to be more exciting and bring more and more people!!