Zao Juhyo Festival

The Zao Juhyo Festival is a winter festival at Zao Onsen, the hot spring and ski resort on the Yamagata side of the Zao Mountains. A council of local bodies runs it through the ski season, with events in the hot spring town and on the slopes. It takes its name from the juhyo, trees coated in rime and snow that are known in English as snow monsters.

The juhyo

The juhyo form on Aomori todomatsu (アオモリトドマツ), a fir of the subalpine zone. In winter the northwest wind brings snow clouds full of water droplets that stay liquid below freezing. When these strike the branches and needles they freeze into ridges, called ebi no shippo (エビのシッポ), shrimp tails, for their shape. Snow packs into the gaps and hardens, and the cycle repeats until the whole tree is buried.

The coating begins in November and December and grows through January. The juhyo are at their largest in February. In March they thin as the air warms, and rain can bring them down. Zao Ropeway describes the juhyo of Zao as among the largest in the world.

Highlights

On set evenings of the season, Zao Ropeway lights the juhyo in colour along its line up the mountain. The light-up is recognised as a Japan Night View Heritage site (Nihon Yakei Isan, 日本夜景遺産). The ropeway also runs the Night Cruiser, a heated snowmobile that carries passengers close to the lit trees.

In the hot spring town, Yuge Akari (湯気あかり) lights parts of the town, including three public bathhouses, with LED lamps after dark. On the slopes, the festival holds a night torch run, in which skiers come down the Uenodai slope carrying LED torches, followed by a short fireworks display. Other events include a display of the snow vehicles and other working machines of the ski resort, a tour of the resort's spots said to bring good fortune, and snow play areas for children.

The 2026 edition

The 2026 festival was the 61st. Its torch run and fireworks were held on 7 February 2026, and the working vehicles were shown on the Uenodai and Omori slopes.