Hokkaido, where Sapporo Snow Festival is held, is the northernmost island in Japan. The average winter temperature except the coast has a cold climate of minus 5 degrees Celsius. The temperature is not low compared with latitude, but in the winter, there is a huge amount of snow due to the sea breeze blowing from the Sea of Okhotsk. It is called the "kingdom of snow" as Japan's greatest snowfall. In winter, snow is covered all over Hokkaido, and most roads freeze. Snow may fall in May for a long time.
Sapporo Snow Festival started with Sapporo City and Sapporo Tourist Association. Sapporo is the administrative, industrial, and tourism center of Hokkaido and is also the prefectural capital of Hokkaido. The Sapporo Snow Festival is a symbol of Hokkaido, attracting about 2 million tourists from all over Japan and abroad every year. During the festival period Sapporo exhibits about 250 large and small sculptures made of snow and ice. The snow flakes exhibited vary from the height of 15m to small pieces of about 2m. It has various shapes such as world famous buildings and popular characters, and it also exhibits snow sculptures carved by citizens themselves.
The main venues for the festival are Odori Hall (Odori Hall), Susukino Hall (Suki Hall), Tsudomu Hall (Tsudomu Hall). The Odori event hall is an Odori park that runs across Sapporo from east to west. This is the first venue for the Sapporo snow festival, which displays huge snow flakes made from various themes. The Susukino event site was established in 1983 as a venue for ice sculptures. Tsudomu is a place where you can enjoy a variety of winter activities such as snow play, skating, snow sledding. In addition, the Sapporo city will hold small and large-scale exhibitions and other small events.
Origin and History
The Sapporo Snow Festival started in 1950 with the Sapporo Tourist Association and Sapporo City. The idea of a winter festival using ice and snow flakes was adopted at a snow festival held in an elementary school in Otaru City, western Hokkaido. Currently, it is the equivalent of Otaru City Kitemiya Elementary School. Kitemiya Elementary School held a winter festival to display students' snow statues from the mid-1930s before World War II. In 1950, six snow sculptures made by middle and high school students in Sapporo were displayed at Odori Park. At the time, the festival was not the center of the festival, and it was a winter festival that included events such as snowball fighting, street marching, movie screening, and group ball. During the first festival period, about 50,000 people visited Sapporo.
It was only a few years later that the proportion of snow flakes and ice flakes in Sapporo snow festival increased. For the first time in 1953, 'Ascension', a large statue of snow, about 15m high, was produced and exhibited. The sculpture created by high school students in Sapporo was a statue of a statue built on an arched structure like a stone of snow. At that time, Sapporo City supported a large amount of snow by truck for the production of ascension. Since 1954, citizens have begun to participate in the production of snow flakes. In 1955, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force challenged the creation of large snow flakes. Since then, the GSDF is still cooperating with the Sapporo Snow Festival.
Sapporo Festival displays various buildings of the world made of snow and ice.
As the festival became a hot topic, visitors began to come from outside Hokkaido in the late 1950s. Particularly, the Winter Olympic Games held in Sapporo in 1972 played a big role in informing the festival. That year, the Sapporo Snow Festival was held on the theme of "Welcome to Sapporo (to Yokoko Sapporo)". As the festival became known around the world with the Winter Olympics, overseas tourists also increased.
In 1974, the International Snow Sculpture Contest (International Snow Statue Contest) was launched for the purpose of international friendship. The first International Snow Sculpture Contest was held at Odori Park, with six teams from Canada, USA, France and Korea participating. Sapporo also exhibited large sculptural works on the theme of cities such as Sydney in Australia and Munich in Germany. In 1981, the "Susukino Ice Festival" was held. Unlike the snow sculpture contest, it is an event displaying ice sculptures. It was originally designated as a ceremony since 1983 when shops on Susukino street were held for publicity. Since 1986, "White Illumination" has been started around Odori Park. It is decorated with lights to allow visitors to enjoy snow flakes and ice sculptures at night. From 1987, citizens' participation in the construction of snow sculptures began in earnest.
Key events
The preparation of a huge sculpture statue symbolizing the Sapporo snow festival starts in the autumn of the previous year when the festival is held. Self-Defense Forces and volunteers who cooperate in the festival operation take charge of collecting materials such as buildings that will be a model of snow flakes and on-site inspections. Once the design is decided, a sophisticated model made of wood or clay is made and released at the end of December at the festival executive committee chairman.
Snow flakes are made of pure white snow with no impurities. The snow is collected at ports and parks near Sapporo. In 2007, when snow was lacking toxicity, he collected the helicopters of the GSDF. For the Sapporo Snow Festival, the amount of snow used at Odori Park is about 5 ton trucks and about 6,000 trucks. The GSDF and civilian trucks constantly carry their eyes open in the winter. In the city of Sapporo, you can often witness a GSDF truck running through the slogan 'snow festival snow transport' until mid-January before the festival begins.
The eyes moved to the park are hardened by heavy equipment. When huge blocks of snow are piled up, we build up scaffolding and sculpt our eyes like construction sites. Though the sculpting method is different for each maker, it is usually made by shoveling the block into a large shape and gradually finishing it. At the end of the detailed expression, a new snow called "makeup snow" is put together and the surface is cleaned up and finished. Due to the nature of the work in which heavy equipment and knives are used, the entrance to the park is limited when snow flakes are going on. It takes about one month to produce snow flakes. During the festival period, a member of the executive committee resides and cares for the condition of the sculpture. At the end of the festival, all pieces of snow made to prevent collapse are dismantled.
There are snow flakes made by citizens themselves. The production period is five days before the opening of the snow festival. It is made by cutting snowmobiles of about 2m in every direction, and there are fine rules, and it can not make a shape that deviates from it. Designs are usually set to reflect trends such as those of the year, mascots of local sports teams, and famous game and animated characters. The production period is short, but some citizens produce works that are not as professional. It is also characterized by many unique works created by the participation of citizens. In order to participate in the production of snow sculptures, it must be submitted to the competition in November every year. The executive committee decides whether or not to participate in a public lottery for the citizens who have received it. Participants should be trained in the production of snow flakes in advance.
International Snow Sculpture Contest
The International Snow Sculpture Contest (International Snow Statue Contest) is one of the central events of the Sapporo Snow Festival. It started in 1974 with the aim of international friendship, and it comes from people from various countries and cities such as USA, Finland, Indonesia, Korea. The participating organizations consist of three people and compete for three days in a free subject.
The exhibits of Sapporo Snow Festival have various shapes.
Snow flakes participating in the competition will be exhibited at the 'International Event Hall' at the Odori Hall. The Odori Hall is the main venue for the Sapporo Snow Festival. It is built about 1.5km in Odori Park and there are many pieces of snow in addition to the contest works. A large snow piece 15m high, a medium snow piece 10m high, and a small snow piece 2m high. Snow sculptures made by citizens are also exhibited here. In the evening, the lights turn on and you can enjoy another piece of snow. The lighting time for the Odori Hall is until 10 pm. In recent years, events such as skating rinks and skiing experiences are also held at the venue.
The Susukino ice sculpture contest is an event sponsored by the Susukino Ice Festival Executive Committee. It was first held in 1981 for the promotion of shops on the Susukino street in downtown Sapporo. It was designated as a formal event in 1983. About 200 people participate in the Susukino ice sculpture contest every year. Participants are hotel cookery experts who are usually members of the Hokkaido Ice Craft Association or who make excellent dishes.
The contest lasts for three days. Ice sculptures completed by participants during the night will be exhibited at the Susukino event site. On the Susukino Street, you can enjoy beautiful and delicate ice sculptures made by members of the association, as well as ice sculptures including Hokkaido specialties such as hair crabs and salmon. When the sun goes down, the colored lights turn on and light the ice cubes. The lighting time is until 11:00 pm, and it goes off at 10:00 pm, one hour early on the last day of the festival.
Winter play
Various winter activities are also a part of the Sapporo Snow Festival. A typical space for enjoying winter play is the Tsudo Festival Hall. The Tsudomu Festival Hall is the second venue for the Sapporo Snow Festival. The sports facility "Sapporo City Community Dome" (Sapporo Community Day Dome)
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