Oga Namahage Sedo Festival: Midwinter Strange Festival Where Fire and Demons Perform Together

Held at Shinzan Shrine in Oga City, Akita Prefecture, on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that include the second Saturday of February each year, the "Namahage Sedo Festival" is a winter tourism event that combines the customs of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage "Oga no Namahage" with "Saito-sai," a sacred rite long handed down at the shrine. In the snow-deep precincts at night, the sight of the Namahage descending from the mountain with the blazing sedo fires at their backs is mysterious and charged with a power that seems to belong to another world.

Namahage Sedo Festival

Held the second Friday through Sunday of February at Shinzan Shrine in Oga, Akita, the Namahage Sedo Festival combines the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage "Oga Namahage" tradition with Sedo Kagura sacred dance performance.

Highlights

• Torch Procession: Namahage and torch-bearing procession descending the shrine slope
• Saito Fire: Great bonfires lit on the shrine grounds
• Namahage Dialogue: Call-and-response between namahage and the year's special representative
• Sedo Kagura: Traditional Oga sacred dance
• Namahage Procession: Namahage walking through the snow

What Are Namahage?

• Deity-like figures who visit each home on New Year's Eve to admonish the lazy
• Famous for the cry "Are there any crying children?!"
• Inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2018

"Namahage" as Messengers of the Gods

Namahage are visiting deities held to admonish the idle, drive away misfortune, and bring good harvests and good catches. They are known from the New Year's Eve tradition in which they wear terrifying demon-like masks, don kera (straw capes), and go from house to house shouting "Are there any crying children?!" At the Sedo Festival these Namahage are joined with the shrine's sacred rites, revealing their wild yet holy figures before visitors. They are beings rooted deeply in the faith and daily life of the people of Oga.

The Valiant Scene of the Descent Through Flame

The climax of the festival is the moment when the Namahage come down in a line from high on the snowy mountain, torches in hand. The flames of the sedo fire wavering in pitch darkness, the falling snow, and the throng of Namahage stamping the ground merge into one, producing a scene at once dreamlike and eerily overpowering. The powerful resonance of the "Namahage Taiko" drums dedicated at the kagura hall lifts the festival further, and the audience is enveloped in a solemn excitement possible only in an Akita winter.

Best Season and Access

The Namahage Sedo Festival is a winter-only event held over just three days each year — the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that include the second Saturday of February (the dates shift by a week in some years, so check the schedule on the official website). Shinzan Shrine, the venue, is deep in snow and bitterly cold, so proper cold-weather clothing and non-slip footwear are essential. For access, it is convenient to use the shuttle bus that runs from "Oga Station" on the JR Oga Line on festival days. At other times, you can see Namahage demonstrations and displays of masks year-round at the nearby "Namahage Museum" and "Oga Shinzan Denshokan," where you can learn about Oga's visiting-deity culture in depth.

Getting There

• From JR Oga Line Oga Station by local bus to Shinzan Shrine (express buses on festival days)
• From Akita Station by car: about 1 hour

Tips

Midwinter event — thorough cold-weather protection is essential. Temporary parking available. Tickets (paid) recommended for advance purchase.

Practical Festival Information (2026 as held / 2027 planned)

• Dates and times: Friday, February 13 to Sunday, February 15, 2026, 18:00–20:30. The next edition, the 64th, is planned for Friday, February 12 to Sunday, February 14, 2027, 18:00–20:30
• Venue: Shinzan Shrine (97 Mizukuizawa, Shinzan, Kitaura, Oga City)
• Admission: Advance application required. An admission cooperation fee of 1,000 yen (free for junior high school age and under), limited to the first 2,000 people each day. Applications open on December 1 and are accepted only through the form on the official website
• Timetable: 18:00 Chinkama-sai and Yu-no-Mai / 18:20 Namahage Konjin (infusing of spirit) / 18:35 Reenactment of the Namahage ritual / 18:55 Namahage dance / 19:05 Namahage Taiko / 19:25 Namahage descent and offering of rice cakes / 20:00 Namahage of the village burst in (final program)
• Nearest station: About 40 minutes by special paid bus from Oga Station on the JR Oga Line (about 2 hours from Akita Station)
• Parking: P1 Namahage Museum large parking, about 150 spaces (able to take large buses) / P2 next to the No. 1 parking, about 80 spaces / P3 beside the old torii gate, about 30 spaces (about a 10-minute walk, roughly 700 m, to the venue) / P4 Namahage Auto Campground, about 200 spaces / P5 former Onyoku Land Oga, about 80 spaces / Heartful parking, limited to 10 spaces
• Shuttle bus: A free shuttle bus runs between P4 and P5 and the venue at intervals of about 20 minutes
• Inquiries: 0185-24-9220

*Food stalls, toilets, arrangements in case of rain, and traffic restrictions have not been announced officially.*

📚 Sources

Oga Navi (Oga City Tourism Association); Akita Prefecture official tourism site.