On May 5, in the Sawada area of Hirosaki City, a 450-year-old practice called "Sawada's Candle Festival" was held.

The Sawada district is one of the villages in the former Soma village, located in the southwestern mountainous area, about 15 kilometers away from the city center. On that day, approximately 2,500 spectators visited the village, which had a population of only 25, from both inside and outside the prefecture, making it the highest number ever recorded.

The origin of the festival dates back to about 450 years ago, and it is said that it started as a memorial service for the spirit of the Heike, which was destroyed in the Battle of Dannoura. The village is also called "Heike's Rakujin no Sato". Currently, about 1,500 candles are set up in the shrine of "Sawada Jinmeigu Shrine" and its approach on the rock wall about 10 meters high, and according to the degree of wax drop, you can tell the good or bad of the year and pass or get good harvest. I pray for you.

Many of the onlookers were amateur photographers and "camera girls" with large cameras and tripods. A woman in her thirties who visited for the first time smiled, "I took more than two hours by car to take a picture. The atmosphere of the fantastic candle is so good that I can take a nice picture."

Mr. Toshinori Tazawa of the "Sawada Candle Festival Executive Committee", who sponsors the event, said, "There are more than 100 staff members from both inside and outside the region, including students from Hirosaki University, who participate in this small festival in this marginal village. , If it leads to regional revitalization. "