– Do you know Kamakura? 

Kamakura is dome-shaped snow house which is really popular in several cities in Tohoku district. The dome-shaped house is made for praying for the god of water so there is the alter decorated with paper stripes. And Specially, in Uonuma, Niigata (Chuetsu Region), people call it Hon-yara Do (ほんやら洞)

Inside the snow house, people wear Hanten (半纏 : a short winter coat, is an item of traditional Japanese clothing. The coat started to be worn, especially by the common people, in the 18th century during the Edo period) And there is Shichirin (七輪 : a small charcoal grill) in the centre of the house to grill Mochi (餅 : Rice cake) or boil Nabe (鍋 : Hot pot) or sometimes Kotatsu (こたつ : a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself)

Kamakura has really long history. Especially, Rokugo no Kamakura (in Misato-cho, Akita) has been continuing for about 700years. Thus Kamakura is an important annual function for Japanese people.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t snow enough to make Kamakura in Tokyo, so if you want to see them, you should definitely go to Tohoku!