The sun sets below a windmill in Akita, Japan.

A volcanic cone (355 meters) is next to the Mt. Kampu Revolving Lookout, 40 km northwest of Akita, Japan. Beginning 30,000 years ago, andesite lava has built up creating the landscape seen today.

The rotating Mt. Kampu Revolving Lookout (1964), 40 km northwest of Akita, Japan, offers good views of the Oga Peninsula.

During a Namahage reenactment at the Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum on the Oga Peninsula near Akita, Japan, a pair of demonic ogres are placated with sake and food. The aim is to promote health, good luck, and an abundant crop of cereals.

Reenactments of Namahage folklore rituals involving orges take place at the Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum beside the Namahage Museum on the Oga Peninsula near Akita, Japan.

A craftsman named Senshu Ishikawa at the Namahage Museum on the Oga Peninsula near Akita, Japan, carves demonic masks for use as disguises during the annual Namahage Sedo Festival.

A display of demonic masks and traditional straw capes from the Namahage Sedo Festival is on display at the Namahage Museum on the Oga Peninsula near Akita, Japan. The ogres carry fake knives to slice off the burnt skin of their victims.

The Namahage Museum on the Oga Peninsula near Akita, Japan, is dedicated to demonic characters from the local folklore known for their fearsome wooden masks and straw garments.

The Namahage Museum on the Oga Peninsula near Akita, Japan, interprets the Namhage Sedo Festival, a New Year's Eve ritual involving young men wearing devil masks and straw capes who raid local homes in search of children to hold ransom for sake and food.

A pair of giant Namahage ogres stand beside the highway between Akita, Japan, and the Oga Peninsula. Oga is notorious for its New Year's Eve folk ritual when these monsters come out of the forest and visit homes to admonish children and sluggards.