Yunishigawa Onsen Kamakura Festival

Yunishigawa is a remote hot-spring village deep in the mountains of Tochigi, settled by legend by refugees of the Heike clan after their defeat in the twelfth century, and its winter festival is one of the gentlest in Japan. Along the Sawaguchi riverbed, hundreds of small kamakura, snow huts no bigger than a lantern, are built and lit with candles, so that the frozen river glows in rows of small fires beneath the dark hillside. Larger kamakura big enough to sit in, some serving food, are built at Heike no Sato and at the Mizu no Sato Snow Park across the village.

The festival runs from late January to early March. The riverside candles are lit from 17:30 to 21:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, so plan around a weekend evening, and mid-February brings the deepest snow and the fullest rows of huts. The rest of the week is quiet, with the snow park open by day for sledging and the big kamakura standing unlit.

The village is reached by the Tobu Kinugawa Line and Yagan Railway to Yunishigawa-Onsen Station, then a bus up the valley. It is a place to stay rather than visit: the ryokan along the river have outdoor baths above the snow, and the candles are best seen on a walk between dinner and a second soak. Expect deep snow, very cold nights and a small village with no nightlife beyond the baths.