Excitement building Nozawa Onsen
Fire Festival mode really starts to build from today in the village with the Dosojin “Bad Luck Year” Men of the village dragging the logs down the resort and thru the streets of town.
It is quite a spectacular day so be sure to try and catch them somewhere along the way. The bad luck years are 25 and 42 and they have a bit of a competition between themselves as to who can drag the logs down the quickest. Fuelled with camaraderie and lots of Sake it is a spectacle to watch.
The dragging begins at the bottom of the Kandaha Race Course at about 1pm then past Hikage and Nagasaka Gondolas then down thru the village. Eventually making their way to the sacred ceremonial grounds which is down below the Taxi stand in town.
Head to Hikage near the kids park and watch the log dragging races it is lots of fun.
Once they get the logs down along with other villagers they will set about building the shrine within a 48 hour time limit to be ready for the Festival to take place on the night of the 15th of January.
That is also well worth checking out as the architecture of the construction is quite intricate and has been developed over more than a century.
More photos here https://www.lodgenagano.com/blog/nozawa-onsen-fire-festival-festivities-get-under-way-today/
Excitement building Nozawa Onsen
Todays Snow Report from Nozawa Onsen
Temperature up top: -3 degrees
New snow since close: 5cm
Base at top: 105cm
Snow conditions: Thin layer of fresh
Weather: Snowing
It is snowing right now in Nozawa and getting heavier which should add to the atmosphere of todays events. It is a bit wet in the village despite the thermometer reading -3 degrees but should be lighter up top and the resort is reporting 5cm so far. The forecast is for it to continue through this morning and clear by this afternoon. Which should be good timing for the Fire Festival events and also when the Tokyo crowds should be heading back for work tomorrow. Have a great day and remember to take your camera.
