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December Events
Horohado Year End Festival (Yonezawa City)
December 4th
Scantily clad men wake up early to pound rice to make mochi rice cakes at the Sengen Temple.
Takamatsu Kannon Hadaka Mochi Making
(Kaminoyama City)
Mid-December
Scantily clad men make mochi rice cakes at this year-end event that gives thanks for a bountiful harvest and prays for health and safety in the new year.
Dharma Doll Market: Kannon-sama no Otoshiya
(Tsuruoka City)
December 17th
Shops selling auspicious objects associated with the New Year like Dharma dolls, decorated rakes, and battledore line the Nanoka-machi Kannon-do at this event, which is packed with the hustle and bustle of excited worshippers.
Shoreisai (Tsuruoka City, Haguro District)
December 31st to January 1st
This solemn religious ceremony, also called the New Year’s Eve Festival, is the most important of all the sacred rituals surrounding Mt. Haguro, the spiritual center of the three sacred mountains of the Dewa Sanzan.
Mt. Zao Ice Monster Light Up (Yamagata City)
Late-December to Early-March
The ice monsters of Mt. Zao, trees so covered in snow and ice that that take on bizarre and monstrous shapes, are lit up beautifully during this event. The view from the ropeway at night is surreal.
