Disney's Tangled was a great success, but it was particularly big in Japan. Most notably for young girls fawning over how pretty Rapunzel is, but also for the standout scene that features Rapunzel gliding through a seat of beautiful lanterns rising up to the night sky during a festival. While this festival is inspired by Thailand's Yi Peng Festival, people in Japan were quite excited to find out they had their own equivalent of a gorgeous and breathtaking lantern festival in Niigata prefecture.

It's called the "Tsunan Yuki Matsuri" (津南雪まつり), or "Tsunan Snow Festival" and is located in Tsunanmachi in Niigata prefecture, which is said to have the heaviest snowfall in Japan. The festival was introduced in 2012, and has become a roaring success. The night sky being filled with a spectacular wave of shining lanterns is stunning enough, but the surrounding area of Tsunanmachi itself is what makes the festival so special.

Devoid of skyscrapers, the true countryside setting is covered in a blanket of snow and beautiful emptiness. This makes for a placid and serene backdrop, which makes the sudden release of over 1000 glowing lanterns all the more cathartic and beautiful. In the snowy and cold surroundings, this provides a moment of warmth that all in attendance can share together, witnessing the same gorgeous spectacle.

But it's too good to just look at pictures, so here are some videos of the grand finale!

Last year's festival was held March 12, 2016, at the New Greenpia Tsunan Ski Area, and brought much needed warmth to Tsunanmachi!