Tohoku Festivals

Ritual processions, planting figures and traditional songs express hopes for a good rice harvest.

Festival in Yamagata featuring a grand procession and traditional performances.

Jinku dancing and deer-dance performances fill the streets of Esashi in spring.

A historical procession retraces Minamoto no Yoshitsune's arrival in Hiraizumi.

Lantern-decorated music carts parade through Mizusawa and gather for evening performances.

Stunning cherry blossoms at Hirosaki Castle with moat reflections.

Spring blossoms provide the setting for historical processions and local performances in Tono.

Dancers in horse-shaped headdresses perform movements inspired by rice cultivation to welcome spring.

Snow hut festival in Akita where visitors enjoy mochi and amazake inside igloos.

Figures in straw costumes visit Kaminoyama's streets with wishes for fire protection and a good harvest.

Snow lantern festival at Hirosaki Castle with hundreds of snow lanterns.

New Year decorations are burned in a sacred fire during this winter ritual at Osaki Hachimangu.

Historical and lantern processions celebrate Aizu culture in Aizuwakamatsu.

Yamagata's premier fireworks festival along the Akagawa River.

Horses wearing colorful decorations and bells walk from Takizawa to Morioka.

A procession carrying a giant straw sandal joins dance groups in central Fukushima.

Three shrine processions and elaborate story-themed floats parade through Hachinohe.