The “Corridor of Lights”: Enchanted by 100,000 snow lights! (Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture)

2022.3.1

Joetsu CityYasuzuka-WardCorridor of lights

This is a report on the winter festival “Corridor of Lights” held in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, on Sunday, the 26th. Blessed with good weather this year, 11,930 people, about 4,000 more than last year, visited the event and enjoyed the fantastic scenery.

This year’s “Corridor of Lights” was held in six different areas of Joetsu City, including Yasuzuka and Oshima wards. At each venue, residents and volunteers created snow objects and lanterns and lit candles as they wished.

In the Hosono district of Azuka Ward, a hole was drilled in the slope of a terraced rice field and 1,500 candles were set up.

The whole village came together to prepare for the event, with 25 people from 15 households working together to create the venue. The oldest person was 87 years old.

One of the participants, a man from Saitama Prefecture who liked Hosono so much that he bought a private house, also worked up a sweat.

Kazuo Shiga, chairman of the neighborhood association, said, “It’s been difficult to get volunteers for the last two years in Corona. We have no one to take charge, so the residents are doing their best. As a creator, I am grateful when people come here and tell me how beautiful it is.

Visitors enjoyed the snow lanterns, saying, “This is my first time here, it’s fantastic and I’m impressed,” and “It’s beautiful when it gets dark and the fire lights up and gets brighter and brighter.

Enmusubi Shrine

At the event’s famous “Enmusubi Teahouse,” couples visited the shrine while surrounded by snow lights.

In the mountain villages at the venue, some people said that they could not make it look the way they wanted due to the aging of the population and the Corona disaster, but they overcame the heavy snowfall last week and created wonderful works.

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JCV Joetsu Cable Vision will broadcast details of the event in a special program starting on Sunday, March 13. If you are a subscriber, please watch it.

March 13 (Sun) 9:50～ / March 14 (Mon) 11:50～, 15:50～ / March 15 (Tue) 12:45～ / March 16 (Wed) 16:50～ / March 18 (Fri) 21:05～, 23:20～ / March 19 (Sat) 11:50～, 20:50～