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A torii gate erected at the entrance to the Odate Amekko-Ichi, symbolizing the festival.
Photo: Odate City

Every February, Odate City in Akita Prefecture comes alive with the Odate Amekko¹Ichi (Odate Amekko Fair, also known as the Odate Candy Festival), a rare candy market where vibrant sweets in yellow, pink, and other colors fill the stalls. With roots in local tradition, this market has been celebrated for over 400 years.

Odate City, located in the mountainous northern region of Akita Prefecture, is about a two-hour drive from Akita Airport and roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes from Aomori Airport. The city is known as the birthplace of the Akita Inu (Dog).² A winter highlight in Odate is the Odate Amekko-Ichi, held in the city center primarily along Omachi Hachiko-dori Street. Every year, the festival takes place over two days—the second Saturday of February and the following day—featuring around 90 stalls. Visitors can find bite-sized kiri-ame (“cut candy”) as well as eda-ame, candy in pink and green hung on branches of mizuki³ (dogwood) trees.

According to HATAKEYAMA Tomofumi of the Odate City Tourism Division, the two-day festival draws large crowds from both inside and outside the prefecture every year. “In Odate, it is said that eating candy on the day of the Amekko-Ichi will help you avoid colds for the year,” he explains. “In particular, eda-ame is often purchased as a good-luck charm, displayed to wish for health and fortune.”

The custom of eating candy during the Amekko-Ichi is said to originate from ancient Shinto rituals.

“According to old records, the tradition began when candy was attached to mizuki branches—chosen for their fresh, vibrant red color—and offered at Shinto altars in place of rice stalks. This practice was also observed in Odate, where eating candy was believed to keep the evil spirits away. Regular markets began in 1588, and it is said that the Amekko-Ichi has continued since around that time. Since 1972, the festival has been held along Omachi Hachiko-dori⁴ Street (formerly Omachi Chuo-dori Street) as it is today,” says HATAKEYAMA.

Visitors stop at stalls lined with colorful candy, selecting their favorite treats. Because the market takes place during the coldest season of February, many also enjoy warm kiritanpo,⁵ a local dish representative of Akita Prefecture.

Various other events are held as well. According to a legend associated with Odate’s highest mountain, Mt. Tashiro,⁶ a white-bearded god known as Shirahige Okami descends from the mountain to buy candy and, on the way back, raises a snowstorm to hide his tracks. One of the festival’s most popular events is the Shirahige Okami Junko (Shirahige God Parade), in which participants dress as the god and march through the streets.


In addition, visitors can enjoy a full day of events, from mochi pounding and an Akita-Inu Parade to performances of local shishi-mai⁷ (lion dances) and Odate magewappa taiko⁸ music, running from morning until evening. If timed right, there is also a booth offering free karami-ame, a type of sticky candy twisted around a wooden stick.

“The candy of Odate carries wishes for household safety and good health. I hope visitors will come and experience this market, which the local people have cherished and preserved for generations,” says HATAKEYAMA.

Along with the vibrant colors of the eda-ame, events such as the Shirahige Okami Junko and the Akita-Inu Parade enliven the winter streets. The Amekko-Ichi is a special market that fills Odate’s winter with a bright and warm atmosphere.

• 1. Amekko is a local term for candy, specific to the region.
• 2. A large dog breed native to Japan, known for its loyalty.
• 3. A tall deciduous tree of the Cornaceae family, naturally found widely from lowlands to mountains, with branches that grow horizontally. Its roots have a strong ability to draw up water, and when branches are cut in early spring, water drips from them—hence the name mizuki (“water tree”).
• 4. Hachiko was an Akita Dog famous as “faithful Hachiko.” Born in Odate City, he was later raised by his owner in Shibuya, Tokyo. After his owner’s death, Hachiko continued to wait at Shibuya Station, attracting media attention and becoming the subject of films, books, and other works.
• 5. A traditional dish of Akita Prefecture. Freshly cooked rice is pounded to bring out its stickiness, shaped around a thin Akita cedar stick into a cylindrical form, and grilled over charcoal.
  
  Kiritanpo
  Photo: Odate City
  
• 6. The highest peak of the Shirakami Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage site straddling the Aomori–Akita border. This volcano has an elevation of 1,178.8 meters.
• 7. A traditional Japanese performing art in which dancers wear a lion-shaped mask (shishi-gashira) and perform ceremonial or festive dances. (See “Shishi-mai: A Lively Dance Performed in a Lion Costume,” HIGHLIGHTING Japan, January 2025 issue)
• 8. A drum made using the traditional Odate craft technique of magewappa, which employs naturally grown Akita cedar.
  
  Ōdate Magewappa Taiko
  Photo: Odate City
  

By MOROHASHI Kumiko
Photo: Odate City; PIXTA

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