56th Snow Festival
in Sopporo
■ by Teri Mitchell
 The
Sapporo Snow Festival, one of Japan’s largest winter events, attracts
a growing number of visitors from Japan and abroad every year.
Every winter, about two million people come to Sapporo to see
the hundreds of beautiful snow statues and ice sculptures which
line Odori Park,the grounds at the Self-Defense Force base in
Makomanai, and the main street in Susukino.
For seven days in February,these statues and sculptures (both
large and small) turn Sapporo into a winter dreamland of crystal-like
ice and white snow.
Festival began in 1950
The Snow Festival began in 1950, when local high school students
built six snow statues in Odori Park. in 1955, the Self-Defense
Force joined in and built the very first massive snow sculpture,
for which the Snow Festival has become famous for now. The Festival
has grown from these humble beginnings to become one of the biggest
and most well known of Hokkaido’s winter events.
The Snow Festival is considered to be a festival of international-caliber.
300 large snow statues
The annual Sapporo Snow Festival is the most famous winter festival
in Japan and attracts many people from all over the world. This
festival is held in early February and lasts about a week. More
than 300 large snow statues are exhibited in three sites in Sapporo-city,
Hokkaido: Odori Park, Makomanai and Susukino areas. At night those
ice statues are illuminated, and the views are incredible.
Cold February in Sapporo
It is very cold in Sapporo in February, so you need to dress warm
when going to see the snow statues. You should wear thermal underwear
and a sweater and then an overcoat like a ski jacket. Also, you
should bring a hat or ear-warmer and gloves. The sidewalks are
icy, so you need to walk very carefully.
|
