Traditional Japanese Kamakura Snow Hut Festival Kicks off in Akita Pref.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:19 JST, February 14, 2026

AKITA — A two-day festival featuring about 60 kamakura snow huts started in Yokote, Akita Prefecture, on Friday.

The city’s kamakura tradition is said to date back 450 years. From this year, the festival is being held on the second Friday and Saturday in February on a trial basis, in order to make it easier for volunteers to take part.

Visitors walked around kamakura set up near city hall and at three other venues. Children, wearing hanten short coats, were waiting inside the snow huts, saying “Please come in” to visitors and seving amazake, a sweet fermented rice beverage.

“The area as whole looks so nice and fantastical,” said a visitor from Kawasaki. “It was warm inside the kamakura.”