The unseasonably warm winter in Japan this year has put a damper on a traditional snow festival in a city in the country's northeast.

An annual festival featuring "kamakura," or igloo-like snow huts, kicked off in the city of Yokote in Akita Prefecture on Thursday, despite the absence of accumulated snow on the ground.

The event usually features several dozen kamakura, each measuring 3 meters high and 4 meters wide, in several sites across the city. It is held to honor the water deity and pray for good harvests.

The organizers had to bring in 700 tons of snow from mountainous areas in neighboring municipalities this winter. This resulted in about 50 kamakura being built, 20 percent fewer than usual.

It was the first time in 17 years that the city experienced such a shortage of snow.

The first day of the festival saw rain and higher temperatures. At one of the festival sites, Yokote Park, the organizers had to cover the huts with waterproof sheeting to keep them from melting.

A visitor said the kamakura were larger than she had expected and quite impressive. She said she could have experienced a more mystical atmosphere if there had been snow, so she would like to visit again in a snowy year.

The two-day festival ends on Friday.