Karamushi Ori-no-Sato Snow Festival

Karamushi Ori-no-Sato Snow Festival

Winter in Showa Village wouldn’t be complete without heavy snowfall – every year around 2 meters of snow piles in the village! Showa Village’s local people has adapted their way of working around the harsh conditions of winter over the generations by utilizing the long winter months to create crafts from weaving thread made of ramie (made from nettles). This photo shows an important part of this process – the bleaching of the fabric. Visitors can even experience making coasters made from ramie using traditional methods at Orihime Koryukan Building, located at Michi-no-Eki Karamushi Ori-no-Sato (Roadside Station)!

The date of the 2021 Karamushi Ori-no-Sato Festival will be at the end of February 2021, and is currently being decided.

Venue Details

Venue Details
Websitehttp://showavill.info/events/(Japanese)
Best Season
  • Winter
Access Details
AccessMichi-no-Eki Karamushiori-no-sato Showa (Roadside Station), 1 Uenohara, Sakuara, Showa Village, Onuma-gun, Fukushima Pref. 968-0215
View directions
Getting there

By Car: 35 min by taxi or rental car from Aizu-Tajima Station (Aizu Railway)

By Bus: 35 min by bus from JR Aizu Kawaguchi Station (JR Tadami Line)

Nearby

The World Glassware Hall
Cultural Experiences

Ride the Oza-Toro-Tembo Train

The Oza-Toro-Tembo Train is a limited-service sightseeing train which is operated during selected days of the peak tourist seasons. The train has three carriages - the oza carriage (which has a tatami-floor), the torokko (tram) carriage, and the tembo (observation deck) carriage. Stretch out and relax in the tatami carriage with its sunken kotatsu (heated table) in autumn, take in Aizu's nature and air from the tram carriage, and revel in the fantastic scenery that await you through the expansive windows of the observation deck carriage. The train runs along the Aizu Railway tracks, meaning you can hop off at various points to visit places such as Ouchi-juku (a 15 minute taxi ride from Yunokami Onsen Station), and To-no-Hetsuri Crags, among others. For information about when this train runs this year, please check out this link (Japanese).

The World Glassware Hall
Cultural Experiences

Aizu Painted Candles Craft Experience

Aizu Erosoku (painted candles) are sumptuous items that were long-prized among samurai families. Delicate and vivid patterns such as chrysanthemums, plum blossoms, and peonies are painted onto candles made of natural Japan wax extracted from the fruits of lacquer trees. Each candle is still painstakingly painted one by one, and they serve as regal decorations in Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies and weddings. A candle painting experience is available at Ozawa Candle Shop (Reservation required).
The World Glassware Hall
Cultural Experiences

Mori no Bunko Fuzawa

Mori no Bunko Fuzawa is a mountain village life workshop facility where guests can experience the lifestyle, nature, and charms of living in a Japanese rural mountain village. [photo id="wedA3wsHghGka5MbrORGYjRkj8BGAinlLCOG5O0L.jpg"] This building was a working school up to 40 years ago, the black board in one classroom where all of the students wrote their goodbye messages on the last day of school has been preserved as is. (If you visit, please be sure to avoid touching, erasing, or writing on the black board.) [photo id="fNNbYszCkKk3qvw1ozp5lY5yn8UDJPkrsrHf05Jf.jpg"] All three classrooms are available to stay the night in! Guests are charged per person, not per room, so if your group are the only ones staying the night then you are free to spread out into all three of the rooms. This is the kind of lodging that Japanese students would stay in on overnight school trips, so there is a sense of nostalgia when staying here.  There are also many different activities that you can experience when staying here, such as local and traditional craft making and even river trekking with local guides! Read more about river trekking experiences here. [photo id="YrRrT5cHuDe3wK75RWrxgat8d8JPQP9P7bQgJwuY.jpg"]

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