Every year, Kakuda has a dontosai festival, which takes place on January 14 in the frigid cold. Dontosai is one of many rightly called hatada matsuris (naked festival). It’s the final piece of the New Year’s celebrations. The shrines are lined with people drinking sake with rice in it and eating konyaku. There is a parade of young people wearing loincloths marching from one shrine to the next only stopping occasionally to huddle around the giant bonfires that line the shrines. They throw mochi (rice dumpling) and bells for the children to catch.

Kakuda also hosts a children’s festival where children have a chance to come play dozens of different games and receive prizes for their efforts. Most of the prizes this year were food, ranging from small tube-shaped “cheeze puffs” that came in various flavors to Japanese potato chips and even popcorn! Most of the children are elementary school aged.

I played several different American games with the kids and even a few adults I managed to corral. Candyland and Uno were two immediate hits, though I did manage to stray away from my booth and play a few games myself. My reward was eating popcorn for the first time in eight months.

Indulging in my love of history by making a Jomon-style necklace rounded out an incredibly fun day.