Tokamachi Snow Festival

The Tokamachi Snow Festival (�\������܂‚�, Tōkamachi Yuki Matsuri) is held annually around the third Saturday of February. It calls itself the first ever snow festival celebrated in Japan, having had its first edition in 1950, the same year that the Sapporo Snow Festival started. Several snow sculptures are created for the occasion and exhibited at various locations in the city. The festival was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and has yet to regain its former scale.

Located in the mountainous interior of Niigata Prefecture, the city of Tokamachi experiences one of the highest snowfall rates in Japan, with snow often piling up to a height of two meters or more. The hardship caused by these large amounts of snow are partly the cause for the depopulation trend that this rural area has been suffering under. To counteract the negative aspects of the high precipitation, the Tokamachi Snow Festival celebrates the abundant snow as a means of enjoyment for both the residents and visitors.

Compared to the Sapporo Snow Festival, the Tokamachi Snow Festival has a less commercial and more neighborhood atmosphere to it. A distinctive charm lies in the city's rural environment where the many snow sculptures are created. Some of them are grouped in clusters at sites called "hiroba", while others are located individually, sometimes at relatively isolated places. The variety of sculptures include art pieces entered for competition, specially created pieces to simply delight visitors, as well as creations by local school children.

The city's residents and shop keepers also contribute to the festive spirit by making snowmen and snow decorations around their houses, along streets and especially in front of the stores in the city center. Amazake, a type of warm sweet rice wine with zero or close to zero alcohol content, is commonly offered to visitors at the festival sites.

The festival is held on multiple festival sites (hiroba). The largest among them is the Snow Rich Hiroba near the Nishi Elementary School, about 15-20 minutes on foot or a short free shuttle bus ride from Tokamachi Station. The site features snow sculptures, snow-related activities and festival food stalls. It is also the site of a 15-minute firework on Saturday at 7pm.

More festival sites are found on both sides of Tokamachi Station and at the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, a 10-15 minute walk from the station. Two festival sites are furthermore located near railway stations outside of the town along the JR Iiyama Line (one of them participates only on Sunday).