【Tokachi, Hokkaido】Urahoro Harvest Festival: 4,000 Residents, 30,000 Mochi, 30,000 Visitors!
Urahoro has fewer than 4,000 residents. Yet every year at the end of September, its Harvest Festival (Minori Matsuri) draws around 30,000 people into town.
The day before the festival, at 8 a.m., more than 40 or 50 volunteers gather at the Central Community Center. Over the next nine hours, they will make about 30,000 pieces of mochi. Some people pound the rice with a machine, and others press it into rounds with molds. Some stand by the fans, flipping the mochi so it cools. The rest bag them, tucking a prize ticket into some of the bags along with the mochi.
Standing along this production line are junior high students, town hall staff, retirees, and even the mayor and vice mayor. Here, rank and age don't matter. Everyone wants the festival to go smoothly and every visitor to leave happily, so everyone is willing to give up their time to make mochi, hoping this tradition will carry on.
In 2025 and 2026, I was in charge of bagging and sealing. We usually work in groups of three or four: one person opens the bag, one puts in the mochi, and one seals it. When everyone is experienced, a team can seal at least six bags a minute. There's even a trick to sealing: wedge the sealing machine against the edge of the table so it doesn't slide around. Still, after a full day, my left thumb was sore!
The next day, at 10 a.m., the Harvest Festival officially begins! This year, 30,000 people came again!
Each year, different performers and MCs are invited, and the junior high brass band and karate club take the stage too. The grounds are huge, with dozens of food stalls, plus Urahoro Charcoal, Urahoro Milk, and handmade crafts to browse. There is also a kids' area, so little ones won't get bored, and many families bring tents and camp out.
Here are my recommendations that you should pay a visit:
Motoki Farm (元木農家 in Japanese): You haven't really been to the Urahoro Harvest Festival until you've had Mr. Motoki's grilled corn! It's big, sweet, and cheap, and it's the only stall selling grilled corn. They also sell cherry tomatoes (200 yen a bag, and even Japanese people say they're sweet!), potatoes, eggplant, and other produce.
FF Kobo (FF工房 in Japanese): Hot-pressed sandwiches made with Tokachi beef.
Jindako (神だこ in Japanese): An Urahoro takoyaki food truck that uses octopus caught off Atsunai in Urahoro. The line is always long, and there are over ten flavors to choose from!
Urahoro Junior High Students' Group (浦幌部中學生版 in Japanese): Think of it as a student council. This year I bought their buttered potatoes, and Urahoro potatoes really are delicious! I also heard their caffeine-free latte, made with Urahoro milk and powdered Kurosengoku black soybeans grown in Urahoro, was so popular that they stopped taking new orders partway through the day!
Sakuraya (さくら屋 in Japanese): The grilled chicken skewers are great!
Urahoro Printing (浦幌印刷 in Japanese): You'd never expect a print shop to make such good hamburgers! Whenever Urahoro Printing sets up a stall, I always buy one.
RIKKA Craft Beer (RIKKAビール in Japanese): RIKKA Beer had a stall in 2026! They grow organic barley, brew, and bottle right here in Urahoro. Festival prices were slightly lower than usual, and you can buy a single cup to try first.
And of course, people are looking forward to “the mochi throwing”!
A few years ago, to keep people from getting hurt in the crush, the festival began separating the adult and children's areas, with different prizes, different amounts of mochi, and different throwing times. Don't underestimate this event, because everybody really wants to catch some mochi!
If it's your first time, I suggest standing a bit back from the stage. You'll still feel the excitement of the scramble, and you'll be less likely to get jostled or knocked over. I'd also recommend bringing a plastic bag and holding it open to catch the mochi.
Mochi throwing is a traditional Japanese custom, usually held when a new house's roof is completed, or at shrine events. Mochi stands for good fortune, and throwing it is a way of sharing that fortune with everyone. The more mochi you catch, the more good fortune you've caught.
Next time you catch a piece of mochi from the stage, remember that it was pounded, shaped, and bagged by dozens of volunteers the day before, from junior high students to the mayor himself. Those 30,000 pieces of mochi carry the care of an entire town.
If you're in Tokachi, Hokkaido at the end of September, come to Urahoro and grab a little good fortune to take home.
Want to experience more of Urahoro's festivals? Check out our【Tokachi, Hokkaido】Urahoro Festival Calendar.
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