Yamagata Prefecture

Culture

Yamagata Prefecture has a number of annual festivals and events.

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The largest is the flower hat dance festival (????, hanagasa matsuri ) which takes place in Yamagata City on the first weekend in August, when thousands of people perform the hanagasa dance in the city centre and attracts up to 300,000 spectators.

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In February, a snow lantern festival is held in Yonezawa at the Uesugi Shrine. Hundreds of candle-lit lanterns light pathways dug into the snow around the shrine.

Related Topics:
Yonezawa - Uesugi Shrine

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Yonezawa is also the site of the Uesugi Festival (????, uesugi matsuri) in mid-spring. The festival's highlight is a re-enactment of the 'Battle of Kawanakajima' on the banks of the Matsukawa River.

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Yamagata City is the home of the bi-annual Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in October.

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Yamagata Prefecture is also known for its local dialect Yamagata-ben, sometimes thought of as backward sounding and the butt of jokes in other parts of Japan.

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