The Roving Ronin Report

In Aomori Prefecture, the city of Hirosaki puts on a simple but elegant snow lantern festival early-mid February. They construct japanese garden-style lanterns out of snow and place small portraits on them which are illuminated at night. The portraits depict Japanese women, samurai, and legendary Chinese heroes particularly from the epics - Three Kingdoms and the Outlaws of the Marsh. The music they play in the background however leaves a tad to be desired but it makes for a bit of surrealness. Music by: The Secret Commonwealth

Japanese Snow Lantern Festival Brightening up the Winter Sky Snow Lantern Festival of Hirosaki Winters are long in Tohoku, the northern region of mainland Japan. Snow and ice are common fare there. A skier’s boon but a common man’s burden. In ages past before sports skiing and winter fashion, winter was something to be dreaded and suffered through. It is no wonder that a multitude of snow festivals dot the Tohoku region. These festivals are the locals’ way of making Winter seem little less unfriendly and little less bleak. Hirosaki Castle One such festival takes place in the city of Hirosaki in the Aomori Prefecture which is the northernmost area of the Japanese mainland. Capitalizing on the beauty of winter, residents of Hirosaki create lanterns made completely made of snow in early February. The lanterns for the most part resemble the type of lantern found in Japanese gardens and shrines. There are hundreds of these spread through the grounds of Hirosaki Castle. Some of the snow lant...