Hanawa: Getting Your Bearings, the Market, and the Festival

In the municipality, Hanawa is a central area of Kazuno City; its urban area extends around Hanawa Station on the JR Hanawa Line. The city is in northeastern Akita Prefecture, near the border with Iwate. Hanawa’s morning market is held on calendar days whose dates end in 3 or 8. Goods include seasonal vegetables, mountain vegetables, clothing, and hardware; fruit from Kazuno, fish, and goods from blacksmiths are also offered. The mix of stalls may vary from one market day to another. Check local details before your trip if the market is a deciding factor for your travel dates.

Hanawa Bayashi is the festival held for the festival of the Inari Shrine of Good Fortune in Hanawa. The city states that the annual festival days are August 19 and 20; check the program for the year you plan to travel. Ten splendidly decorated floats parade through the streets all night, accompanied by rousing music. The Hanawa Bayashi Festival Exhibition Hall displays the floats year-round; the float event was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in 2016. An interactive taiko station complements the exhibition and offers a different way to experience the festival than attending in August.

Historic Architecture and Folklore

The Kazuno City History and Folklore Museum is housed in a former wooden public meeting hall. Built in 1916, it has Western-influenced features: board-clad exterior walls, sliding windows, and plant-inspired carved motifs on the capitals of the entrance columns. Its pseudo-Western style is considered unique in the city; in 1991, the building was designated a tangible cultural property of the city. The collection includes folklore materials from the Meiji period through the early Shōwa period, as well as household items, farming tools, and barrels from sake breweries. Check the current opening hours before visiting.

Traditions and Early Settlement History

Associated with Hachimantai, Dainichidō Bugaku is a traditional performing art. The tradition has been passed down for around 1,300 years and is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. In Towada-Ōyu, the Nonakado and Manza stone circles are part of a major archaeological site from the late Jōmon period. They date back around 4,000 years. Guided tours of the archaeological site and exhibition hall are offered six times a day; check current arrangements before your visit. The municipality thus brings together remains from very different periods: the wooden building from 1916 and the much older stone circle site.

Mining and Regional Food Culture

The Osarizawa Copper Mine is considered Japan’s largest historic copper-mining site. Visitor offerings include a visitor tunnel and the guided “Industrial Heritage Course”; check current operations in advance. The main building of the former Sekizen Sake Brewery also tells a story of architectural history: it was built in 1905 and is registered as a tangible cultural property.

A hands-on activity featuring a local dish is available at the Kiritanpo Hall at Michi-no-Eki Kazuno roadside station: there, you can spread special walnut miso on tanpo and grill it. Check in advance whether this experience is offered at the time of your visit. The market, festival, museum, and archaeological site each offer a different focus—from goods and floats to collections, traditions, and very early history.

Discover more destinations: Akita, Kosaka, Ōdate, Oga, Yamamoto District, Uwamuki, Noshiro, Fujisato

For the main travel overview: Akita Prefecture.