Introducing photos post "Everyone's post"! Inbound tourist information social media "COOL JAPAN VIDEOS" pickup post. Today, I would like to introduce Lily0321's post "Cleaning up the dondo-yaki fire held in a mountain village in Niigata Prefecture". It's a quaint piece that captures unique festival and traditional culture. In Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, the strange festival "Muko Throwing" and "Sumi-zuki" held in January every year are small New Year's events that have been handed down since the Edo period. Muko-tossing wishes for the blessing of marriage and the bond of husband and wife, and throws the son-in-law who got married the previous year off a 5-meter-high cliff. In addition, Sumi-gashi is an event in which charcoal and snow are mixed with dondoyaki (Shinto ritual, the god of sai) and applied to each other's faces, wishing for a disease-free life and prosperity of the family business. The festival is held at Matsunoyama Onsen, one of the heaviest snowfall areas in Japan. It is a historical hot spring that has a theory that it is a hidden hot spring of the Echigo guardian Uesugi family. Due to the strong salt quality of the spring, it does not cool down even in winter, and it is also called "Japan's three major medicinal hot springs". The hot spring town is full of sightseeing spots such as open-air baths, day-trip hot springs, foot baths, and gourmet food. At the "Earth Furnace" where the kominka was relocated, you can experience grilling the hearth and making hot spring pork. ◆Matsunoyama Onsen◆ 【Access】 About 25 minutes by bus from Matsudai Station on the Hokuhoku Line About 60 minutes by car from the Kanetsu Expressway "Shiozawa-Ishiuchi IC" Please check the official website for details.