Lake Tazawa (田沢湖)

Located just south of Towada-Hachimantai National Park, Lake Tazawa (田沢湖) is a scenic caldera lake that has not been overly developed and retains a natural and rustic atmosphere. The lake is often visited in conjunction with nearby sites like Nyuto Onsen or Mount Akita-Komagatake, which also offer rustic scenes that are typical of the Tohoku Region.

Lake Tazawa has much in common with Lake Towada, another popular lake in the area that lends its name to the Towada-Hachimantai National Park. While Lake Towada is the largest caldera lake in the country, Lake Tazawa is Japan's deepest lake with a depth of 423 meters. Both lakes offer similar scenery and water related activities like pleasure boat rides.

At the northern end of the lake stands the Goza no Ishi Shrine on a site where the local lords used to come to admire the water in the feudal past. At the western end of the lake there is a famous golden statue of a woman named Tatsuko that has become a local symbol. According to legend, Tatsuko was a beautiful girl who prayed to retain her beauty forever but was instead cursed and turned into a dragon and eventually sunk to the bottom of Lake Tazawa.

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Kanto Matsuri (竿燈まつり)

The Kanto Matsuri (竿燈まつり) is a Tanabata related celebration in Akita City, held every year from August 3 to 6. The highlight of the festival is an impressive display of skill in which performers balance kanto (long bamboo poles) with arrays of paper lanterns attached to the end. The Kanto Matsuri together with Aomori's Nebuta Festival and Sendai's Tanabata makes up the three great festivals of the Tohoku Region.

The kanto poles come in different sizes with the largest measuring 12 meters, weighting 50 kilograms and carrying as many as 46 paper lanterns, lit by real candles. To the sound of drums, flutes and onlookers chanting "dokkoisho, dokkoisho", each kanto is hoisted up by a single performer who balance them on end using various techniques. The performers change every few minutes and gradually add extensions to the pole until the kanto are at their maximum height.

The main event of the festival, the Night Parades, are held nightly along Chuo Dori street in the center of the city. The various performing groups, carrying nearly 250 kanto poles, line up on the street, and when a signal is given, the poles are all raised up at once and the performers show off their skills. The event lasts about 90 minutes, and at the end of each night there is a 15 minute session during which the audience is invited to talk to the performers, take pictures and try their hand at hoisting up a kanto.

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Lake Tazawa (Tazawako)

Lake Tazawa (Tazawako) is a scenic caldera lake that has not been overly developed and retains a natural and rustic atmosphere. The lake is often visited in conjunction with nearby sites like Nyuto Onsen or Mount Akita-Komagatake, which also offer rustic scenes that are typical of the Tohoku Region.

At the northern end of the lake stands the Goza no Ishi Shrine on a site where the local lords used to come to admire the water in the feudal past. At the western end of the lake there is a famous golden statue of a woman named Tatsuko that has become a local symbol. According to legend, Tatsuko was a beautiful girl who prayed to retain her beauty forever but was instead cursed and turned into a dragon and eventually sunk to the bottom of Lake Tazawa.

The majority of the lake's waterside remains undeveloped. At the lake's eastern end surrounding the bus stop area, visitors will find a few shops, restaurants, rental bicycles and the sightseeing boat pier. Sightseeing boats operates from late April to early November and travel to the Tatsuko Statue and back. The round trip takes 40 minutes and costs 1200 yen.

Photo:

"Statue of Tatsuko with misty Lake Tazawa" by 掬茶 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Tatsuko_with_misty_Lake_Tazawa.jpg#/media/File:Statue_of_Tatsuko_with_misty_Lake_Tazawa.jpg

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Yokote Kamakura Festival (横手の雪祭り)

The Yokote Kamakura Festival (横手の雪祭り) has a history of about 400 years. It is held every year on February 15 and 16 in the city of Yokote in southeastern Akita Prefecture. The festival features many igloo-like snow houses, called kamakura, which are built at various locations across the city.

Within each kamakura there is a snow altar dedicated to the water deity, to whom people pray for ample water. A charcoal brazier is set up to provide warmth and grill rice cakes. In the evenings (18:00 to 21:00), children invite festival visitors into their kamakura and offer them rice cakes and amazake, a type of warm sweet rice wine with zero or very low alcohol content. In return, the visitors make an offering to the water deity at the altar.

Along Yokote River, hundreds of small kamakura the size of lanterns are made. These mini kamakura are illuminated by candles from dusk until around 21:00 and create a lovely sea of lights. At the grounds of the Minami Elementary School, more mini kamakura and some snow sculptures are displayed in front of the nice school building. Children can enjoy playing with snow and riding on a snow slide.

Photo:

"Kamakura-yuki" by （社）横手市観光協会 - （社）横手市観光協会. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kamakura-yuki.jpg#/media/File:Kamakura-yuki.jpg

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