This festival has a history going back about 450 years, with snow huts, or kamakura (not to be confused with the city of the same name), in the city of Yokote symbolizing the gateway to the “god of water.” Inside the huts, local children will serve amazake (sweet rice drink) and rice cake to visitors.

Hachinohe Enburi is a traditional festival in Aomori certified as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in Japan. The festival is best known for its tayu dancers, who wear special hats in the shape of horse's necks and shake their heads up and down in a representation of rice planting, hoping for a rich harvest.

Until 2022, Shizukuishi’s Koiwa Farm hosted the Prefectural Hope Iwate Snow Festival, a lively event featuring snow statues, fireworks, jingisukan (“Genghis Khan” grilled mutton dishes) served in snow huts, and more. Since 2023, the farm has instead been the site of the Shizukuishi Winter Festa. Expect many of the same events, plus shows featuring popular children’s characters on certain dates.

The Namahage Sedo Festival is a traditional winter festival in Akita that combines the Shinto Saitosai ritual held at Shinzan Shrine in the city of Oga with Namahage, a group of people wearing ogre masks who walk around villages to visit houses on New Year’s Eve. The festival began in 1964 and is held at Shinzan Shrine. A visit from Namahage is said to offer an admonition against wrongdoing, forestall disasters and offer blessing for the New Year.

Started in 1977, the Hirosaki Castle Snow Lantern Festival focuses on snow and illumination, with the aim of helping city residents have fun and entertain visitors in long and cold winter. A total of nearly 200 lanterns and snow statues welcome visitors to Hirosaki Park in Aomori City, in addition to about 300 miniature snow huts with candles inside lining up around the park's lotus pond.