Midwinter markets have been held in Tōkamachi since the Edo period (1603–1867). The markets were ideal opportunities for both socializing and conducting business, and they drew in farmers from the surrounding mountains who came to sell their crops, homemade goods, and textiles for extra income. The winter market is also called the “chinkoro market” after the small, handmade figurines of puppies (or chinkoro, after the Japanese Chin dog) made of steamed rice-paste that were first sold at the market around the turn of the twentieth century. The puppy figurines became extremely popular, and figurines of rabbits and other auspicious animals are now sold as well. It is believed that the more cracks a small, handmade figurine develops over time, the luckier its owner will become.