Hiburi Kamakura

Hiburi Kamakura is a traditional Little New Year (koshogatsu) event handed down in the Kakunodate district of Semboku City, Akita Prefecture, held every year on the night of February 14. Participants light a small straw charcoal bale tied to the end of a rope, grip the end of the rope, and swing it in great circles around their bodies, so that rings of fire drawn one after another across the pure white snow color the winter night with a fantastical glow.

It is a rite that drives away misfortune with sacred fire while praying for a good harvest, freedom from illness, safety in the household, and a year without mishap. With a tradition of more than four hundred years, it is designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property by Semboku City. A major distinguishing feature is that it is a participatory event that can be not only watched but actually experienced, and it is beloved as a signature winter scene of snowbound Kakunodate.

History and Origins

Hiburi Kamakura is said to have been begun by farmers who wished to ward off the impurities and misfortunes connected with their fields, and it is a Little New Year event with a history of more than four hundred years. The Little New Year, centered on around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, belongs to a nationwide tradition of rural rites in which New Year decorations are burned to see off the year god and prayers are offered for a bountiful harvest and safety, but in Kakunodate this developed into the distinctive form of drawing rings of fire in the snow.

At the foundation of the event lies a faith that regards fire as sacred. By lighting a charcoal bale and swinging it around the body, one drives off the misfortune that has clung to oneself, while praying for a good harvest, freedom from illness, and safety in the home. The direct and powerful act of swinging fire gives shape to the earnest wishes of people who live amid harsh snow and cold, longing for the coming of spring's bounty and the health of their families.

Hiburi Kamakura begins with the lighting of a hearth (kamado) built of snow, into which firewood is placed and burned. The fire of this hearth becomes the source for the fire swinging and serves as the starting point of the whole event. On February 14, the event is carried out in thirty-six places throughout the district, town block by town block, so that rings of fire dance in the night sky at each of the fixed locations.

Kakunodate flourished in the Edo period as the castle town of the Satake-Kita family, and it is known for its samurai residence townscape, so celebrated that it is called the Little Kyoto of the north country. The people who live in this historic town have preserved and handed down Hiburi Kamakura while inheriting places and roles for each town block. The custom of carrying home the used rope as a protective charm also survives, so that the event continues not as a mere tourist attraction but as an act of prayer rooted in the life of the community.

Highlights

Rings of fire dancing over the snow　The greatest highlight of Hiburi Kamakura is the rings of fire drawn one after another in the pure white snow. When a charcoal bale is lit and swung around the body, glowing red circles of light overlap in layer upon layer within the darkness, drawing onlookers into the fairy-tale world of a winter night. This fantastical scene, possible only in snow country, has become the symbol of the event.

The tenpitsu-yaki burning　At the fixed locations for each town block, a tenpitsu-yaki is performed, in which a tall pole about three meters high, wrapped with rice straw, is set up in the snow and set alight. New Year pine decorations and sacred straw ornaments are burned together, and prayers for a year of safety are offered upon the rising flames and smoke, an act of fire ritual characteristic of the Little New Year.

A participatory event with fire-swinging experience　A great appeal of Hiburi Kamakura is that it is a participatory event in which visitors too can actually experience the fire swinging, not merely watch it. Because there is danger should clothing catch fire, cotton happi coats of the kind used at the Kakunodate Festival are lent out, and under the guidance of local people visitors can safely experience drawing rings of fire.

The snow hearth and the water deity　The event begins with the lighting of a hearth built of snow, and this fire becomes the source for the fire swinging. A snow hut (kamakura) is also made at the site, and within it the water deity is enshrined. Fire, water, and snow, the very elements that shape winter in Kakunodate, come together to prepare the setting for the prayers of the Little New Year.

Fire spread across thirty-six locations　On the day, Hiburi Kamakura is carried out in thirty-six places throughout the Kakunodate district, town block by town block. Because each town block of the castle town draws its rings of fire at its own location, the whole town is wrapped in countless fires on the same night. This reflects the character of an event rooted in the community, with fixed places and roles handed down through the generations.

The rope carried home as a charm　The rope used in the fire swinging is sometimes carried home as a protective charm, a sacred object that has driven off misfortune. This custom of taking the swung rope home to wish for a year of safety shows that Hiburi Kamakura lives on not as a mere spectacle of fire but as a genuine rite of supplication.

Event Information

• Location: Kakunodate, Semboku City, Akita Prefecture
• Venue: The individual town blocks of the Kakunodate district (main sites and thirty-six locations across the district)
• Dates: The night of February 14 every year (a Little New Year event)
• Main events: Fire swinging, tenpitsu-yaki burning, lighting of the snow hearth, fire-swinging experience
• Access: About 15 minutes on foot from Kakunodate Station on the Akita Shinkansen and the JR Tazawako Line
• Admission: Free to view. Cotton happi coats are lent for the fire-swinging experience (for safety). Note that dates and venues may change.

Around the Area

Kakunodate, the stage of Hiburi Kamakura, is a historic town that flourished in the Edo period as the castle town of the Satake-Kita family, and it is called the Little Kyoto of the north country. Along the samurai residence street, selected as a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, stand residences adorned with black board fences and weeping cherry trees, and in winter one can enjoy a dignified townscape clad in snow.

Kakunodate is also known nationwide as a place famous for cherry blossoms. The weeping cherries of the samurai residence street and the roughly two-kilometer row of Yoshino cherry trees along the Hinokinai River embankment are celebrated as a masterpiece of spring scenery, conveying a charm of Kakunodate quite different from the season of Hiburi Kamakura. Being able to savor the atmosphere of the castle town throughout the four seasons is one of Kakunodate's great attractions.

The area around Kakunodate Station is also a base for touring Lake Tazawa and Kakunodate. With good access to such attractions of inland Akita as Lake Tazawa, the deepest caldera lake in Japan, and the Nyuto hot spring villages, it is beloved as a starting point for a winter journey combining a visit to Hiburi Kamakura with the nature and hot springs of deep-snow Akita.

Related Information

• Month: February (winter, a Little New Year event)
• Location: Kakunodate, Semboku City, Akita Prefecture (Tohoku region)
• Origins: Said to have been begun by farmers wishing to ward off the impurities of the fields; a tradition of more than four hundred years
• Cultural property: Designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property by Semboku City
• Scale: Carried out in thirty-six locations throughout the Kakunodate district, town block by town block
• Features: Rings of fire drawn in the snow, the tenpitsu-yaki burning, a fire-swinging experience open to visitors

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