Hirosaki Castle Snow Lantern Festival

When and where is it held?

The Hirosaki Castle Snow Lantern Festival (Hirosaki-jo Yukidoro Matsuri) is a winter festival held in Hirosaki Park in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture. The park is the site of Hirosaki Castle, home of the Hirosaki domain in the Edo period, and is a designated National Historic Site. The festival runs for four to six days every year between early and mid-February, always including National Foundation Day, a public holiday on 11 February.

It began in 1977 (Showa 52) and reached its 50th edition in 2026. According to the Hirosaki Convention and Visitors Bureau, the next, 51st festival will run for five days from Wednesday 10 to Sunday 14 February 2027. It is one of Hirosaki's four great festivals, alongside the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival, the Hirosaki Neputa Festival and the Hirosaki Castle Chrysanthemum and Autumn Leaves Festival, and is also counted among the "five great snow festivals of Michinoku" (Michinoku is an old name for the Tohoku region).

Snow lanterns and mini kamakura: light made by local hands

The stars of the festival are about 150 yukidoro (snow lanterns) placed all around the park. They are made of snow in the shape of traditional stone lanterns, with pictures such as warrior paintings set into them. Groups such as companies and schools, as well as local people, make them by hand as a way to enjoy the long, harsh northern winter. In 2024, 54 local groups were reported to have made snow lanterns and snow sculptures.

Around the Hasu-ike pond in Nishi-no-kuruwa, which looks out from the Honmaru (the castle's inner enclosure) towards Mount Iwaki, the mountain that symbolises the Tsugaru region, about 300 mini kamakura are lined up. A kamakura is a small snow hut, and when the sun goes down, candles are lit inside them. The snow lanterns and sculptures are also lit up at night, along with the snow-covered castle keep and the ancient pines.

The big snow sculpture in the Shinomaru, and neputa art in winter

In the main venue, the Shinomaru (one of the castle's enclosures), a big snow sculpture of a historic building is created by members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's Hirosaki garrison. Recent subjects have been Hakodate's Old Public Hall of Hakodate Ward in 2023, the Hakodate Orthodox Church in 2024, the original Hirosaki Station building, marking 130 years since the station opened, in 2025, and, for the 50th festival in 2026, Hirosaki Castle's keep, the same subject as the big snow sculpture at the very first festival. At night the sculpture becomes a screen for projection mapping.

The Shinomaru also has a big snow slide that is popular with children, and a place where you can go sledging. Along a walkway near the Ninomaru, the "Tsugaru Nishiki-e Grand Corridor" displays, like a wall, the paintings from the neputa (huge lanterns painted with warriors and other figures) paraded at the Hirosaki Neputa Festival the previous summer. Seeing summer festival art in a winter park is a sight unique to this festival.

Snow shortages and the pandemic: the festival in recent years

The festival was held in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the 2023 festival was reported as "the first in two years", with infection-control measures such as keeping to the left in the park and limiting eating and drinking to set areas.

In recent years the festival has also been at the mercy of the snowfall. In the mild winter of 2024 there was hardly any snow in the park, so the city brought in about 170 truckloads of snow from the mountains and held the festival as planned, though some features were changed, such as reducing the number of slides. 2025, on the other hand, was a winter of heavy snow. The official website notes that snow sculptures and other works may be changed or cancelled depending on the snow conditions.

Getting around, and the rules at the venue

The snow at the venue is frozen and very slippery. The organisers ask visitors to wear non-slip shoes, so come in winter shoes or bring slip-on traction grips. For the lights, after sunset is best: enjoy the big snow sculpture and slide during the day, then wander among the glowing mini kamakura and snow lanterns once it is dark, and you will see both sides of the festival.

Flying drones in the park without permission is banned. Visitors are asked not to walk pets in the park, but pets are allowed in if kept in a cage or pet cart or carried in your arms (though not inside buildings).

During the festival season, the "Winter Cherry Blossom Light-up", which illuminates the snow piled on the cherry branches along the outer moat, also runs from December to the end of February, so you can see it along with the festival. The yukizuri on the park's trees (winter protection in which ropes run out from the trunk to hold up the branches so they do not snap under the weight of snow) are another typical sight of Hirosaki Park in winter.

Tips

• Day and night offer different pleasures. See the big snow sculpture and the slide while it is light, then wander among the glowing mini kamakura and snow lanterns after dark.
• The snowy paths at the venue are icy. Wear winter shoes or bring slip-on traction grips for your shoes.
• The mini kamakura line the Hasu-ike pond in the Nishi-no-kuruwa enclosure, in the direction of Mount Iwaki as seen from the Honmaru. Check the map before you go so you do not get lost.
• Flying drones without permission is banned. Pets are allowed in if you carry them or keep them in a cage or pet cart.
• The "Winter Cherry Blossom Light-up" along the outer moat runs from December to the end of February, so you can take it in along with the festival.