Event has ended】Giant paper balloons dance in the night sky of Senboku City, Akita [Paper Balloon Raise in Kami-Hikkiuchi 2025

  • Akita
  • Sightseeing

About Paper Balloon Festival of Kamihinokinai

This is a small New Year's event in which about 60 giant paper balloons (the largest one is 12 meters long) decorated with pictures of warriors and beautiful women and lit with lights dance in the clear midwinter night sky, wishing for good health, a good harvest, and family safety for the coming year.
The history of this event is more than 100 years old, but there is no written record of its beginnings. Legend has it that Gennai Hiraga, a scientist of the Edo period, introduced the event as a game based on the principles of hot-air balloons when he visited the copper mine for technical guidance.
They are big when seen up close!
Make a wish for each of them.

How to make giant paper balloons

Paper balloons have become increasingly huge in recent years, and instead of the traditional half-sheet of paper, they are made by pasting together sheets of commercial Japanese paper about 1 meter wide, with a huge cylindrical structure ranging from 3 meters to 8 meters in length, with the largest reaching 12 meters. About two months prior to the launch, residents from eight districts in Kami-Hinokochi worked together to make the paper balloons, from cutting the paper to selecting the design, and everyone from children to the elderly worked together to create the final 60 paper balloons in various sizes.
Many of them are painted with pictures of warriors and beautiful women

Paper balloons float in the night sky all together.

Finally, the paper balloons are launched into the night sky! It is a fantastic sight to see the paper balloons, filled with the wishes of many people, slowly ascending into the night sky. At the beginning and end of the festival, all the paper balloons go up at the same time, attracting many tourists with their cameras ready. The fantastic sight of the paper balloons disappearing into the starry sky is also called "winter fireflies.
Paper balloons float into the night sky in the falling snow.
Paper balloons of various sizes rise into the night sky at once!
The official website for the Kami-Hinokunai Paper Balloon Raise is here:
Venue: Nishiki-cho Paper Balloon Plaza (7 min. walk from Kamihikinai Station on the Akita Nairiku Line)

Date and Time: Please check from the official website

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