Nozawa Onsen Dosojin Fire Festival 2027 Confirmed

野沢温泉の道祖神祭り — Nozawaonsen, Nagano (Koshinetsu)

Last updated: Sun, October 11, 2026

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Every January 15, the ski village of Nozawa Onsen builds a wooden shrine about 7 metres tall and then fights over it with fire: villagers charge it with burning torches while the men of unlucky ages, 42 and 25, defend it, until the whole structure is set alight in the night. It is a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and falls in the middle of the ski season. In 2026, only ticket holders could enter the festival site, and tickets were given only to village residents and guests staying in Nozawa Onsen.

Background

Dosojin are folk deities who guard village borders and crossroads and are prayed to for marriage, children and healthy growth. Preparation starts the autumn before. In mid-October, five straight beech trees about 18 metres long are felled in the village forest as sacred trees. On January 13, the 42- and 25-year-olds drag two of them from the Hikage ski slope to the festival site, which takes over three hours, while households along the route offer sake. The shrine is built in silence and without alcohol and is finished on the 15th. It stands about 7 metres high, with the sacred trees rising more than 10 metres above it. Families whose first son was born that year make a hatsu-doro, a lantern pole of about 9 metres hung with lanterns, the family crest and paper flowers. On the 15th they carry it to the site singing Dosojin songs and offer it to the fire. Six of the unlucky-age men fetch the flame, struck with flint at the Kono family home by the Terayu bath. Once the attack begins, the 42-year-olds defend the top of the shrine and the 25-year-olds the bottom.

Getting there

Nozawa Onsen is about 25 minutes from Iiyama Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen by the direct Nozawa Onsen Liner bus (¥600 adults, ¥300 children). Some trains do not connect with a bus, so check the timetable. There is no public transport to the village from Kamisakai or Togari-Nozawa-Onsen stations on the JR Iiyama Line. On festival days every road in the village is a no-parking zone and pedestrian restrictions apply, so do not plan to drive in and park for the evening.

Tips

• The date is fixed: always January 15, whatever the day of the week. In 2027 it falls on a Friday, and the sacred trees are dragged through the village on the 13th.
• In 2026, tickets for the festival site went only to village residents and guests staying in Nozawa Onsen, through their lodging. If the same rule applies in 2027, a day trip will not get you in, so book a room in the village early and ask your lodging about tickets.
• Times in 2026 were approximate: fire-source ceremony 19:00, lanterns arrive 19:30, fireworks and Dosojin taiko drumming from 20:00, the fire reaches the site at 20:30, a children's attack 20:35–20:50, then the adults' attack until around 22:00. The shrine burns until the next morning.
• Visitors only watch, because only villagers light the fire. Bottles, cans and alcohol of any kind may not be brought in, and flying drones near the site is banned.
• It is a village festival in deep snow at night. Wear proper snow boots and warm layers, and stay behind the lines the organizers set, because sparks and burning torches fly.
• On the 16th, villagers grill rice cakes over the embers from dawn, a custom said to keep colds away for a year. In 2026 visitors could join if they brought their own mochi and a grill net.

Maintained by Tetsu Yamamoto · Last verified against the official source: Sun, October 11, 2026