---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sapporo Snow Festival
The Sapporo Snow Festival is a celebration of snow and ice held for one week each February.
Events are held at three locations in and around Sapporo, the capital and largest city of
Hokkaido (the northernmost of Japan’s main islands), and one of the world’s snowiest cities.
An average of 485 centimeters of snow falls there every year, and accumulations often reach80 to 90 centimeters.
Each of the three venues has a distinct focus and character. At Odori Park in central Sapporo,snow sculptures stretch out over 12 city blocks. At nearby Susukino, a restaurant andentertainment district, ice sculptures and nighttime illumination are the main attractions.
About 10 kilometers away is Tsudome, a snow park with both indoor and outdoor activities.
Each year the festival features several large snow sculptures on a different theme, including
reproductions of famous buildings on an almost life-sized scale. Some require scaffolding
and truckloads of snow to create. There are also several medium-sized sculptures andnumerous smaller ones that are hand-formed by Sapporo residents and international teams.
The celebration of cultural expression and connection developed by creating snow sculptures
as a community, as well as the use of technology to enhance the experience, are hallmarks ofthe festival.
A Sapporo schoolteacher who helped launch the festival taught his students to think of theabundant snow as a welcome friend rather than a foe and a nuisance, and that doing so canbring enjoyment and a sense of possibility. The community embraced this view and turned a
festival that began with a few snow sculptures and a snowball fight into a world-famous
event that draws millions of visitors to the city every year.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------History of the Festival
The Sapporo Snow Festival began in the winter of 1950 when a group of middle and highschool students built six snow sculptures in a corner of Odori Park under the supervision of
their art teachers. There were also dog races, square dances, snowball fights, and a grandsnow battle involving teams and flags. The event was a fun, lighthearted way to enjoy thesnow, and about 50,000 people attended the festival. The event continued to grow and has
been held annually ever since, with the exception of 2021.
Members of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Forces began assisting with the festival in 1955.
Camp Sapporo is the home of the Northern Army, the largest army of several in the SDF, andsome of the festival volunteers are stationed there. In 1959, 2,500 JSDF personnel took partin building the larger snow sculptures. Their engineering and logistics skills were invaluable
in constructing the massive snow sculptures that now symbolize the event.
In 1972, Sapporo hosted the Winter Olympics and the snow festival gained internationalrecognition. A 25-meter-high snow sculpture of the mythical character Gulliver thatwelcomed people to the festival that year was featured in media coverage of the Olympics,
bringing awareness of the festival to a wider audience.
The year 1974 was one of development as well as hardship for the festival. The International
Snow Sculpture Contest was held for the first time that year, and teams from six countries
competed. The number of participating teams has varied from year to year, with as many as
20 locales competing in 1998 and 11 in 2020. The hardship of 1974 was due to the global oil
crisis and the resulting shortage of fuel for trucks to bring in snow and to compact it. Because
there was not enough snow to make the sculptures of solid snow, steel drums were used totake up space in the base of the structures. However, with less frozen material at the core, thesculptures started to melt more quickly than usual and there was concern that they might fall
before the end of the festival.
In 1979, a snow sculpture by the artist Okamoto Tarō (1911–1996) boosted the reputation of
the event even further. Okamoto is renowned as the creator of the iconic “Tower of the Sun,”a sculptural building constructed for the 1970 Japan World Exposition in Osaka.
In 1983, the restaurant and entertainment district of Susukino was added as a venue, followedby the addition of a winter playground at Tsudome in 2009. Susukino brought the element of
ice into the festival with its Ice World event, which focuses on the carving and exhibition ofelaborate ice sculptures. With Tsudome came the new dimension of outdoor activities like ice
and tube slides as well as an indoor spacewith hands-on activities for all ages.
In 2013, projection mapping technology
added motion, color, and sound to the snow
sculptures. That development also brought a
substantial increase in visitors, and now
more than two million people visit the
Sapporo Snow Festival annually.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Odori Site
Odori Park was the site of the original Sapporo Snow Festival in 1950 and is still the main
venue. Most of the festival’s snow sculptures are located in the park’s 12 blocks, which
extend for 1.5 kilometers. Over the years, Odori Park has regularly hosted ice rinks, ski
jumps, and a food park with Hokkaido specialties.
Highlights by Block
The 12 blocks of the park are called chomeand are known by their numbers: 1-chome, 2chome, etc.
1-chome is J:COM Square, the location of the
Sapporo TV Tower. The observation deck inthe tower is highly recommended for viewing
the entire length of the Odori site, especially atnight. The large snow sculptures are usuallybuilt facing the tower, making it an excellent
place from which to see them all at once.
2-chome has a different theme each year. In
2020, Ainu traditions, handicrafts, cuisine, andmusic were the focus. It was also the site of anaugmented-reality and projection mapping
project onto a snow sculpture.
3-chome is the location of HTB Park Air
Square, where elite skiers and snowboarders
compete. They perform freestyle jumps andacrobatics on a 24-meter-high mogul-filledhill.
4-chome is STV Square, with the first of the large snow sculptures and dining options.
5-chome is the site of the next large snow sculpture, along with more dining options.
6-chome is the half-way point and is one of three “Citizens’ Squares” in the park thatshowcase snow figures carved by Sapporo citizens. The main attraction in this block is the
Hokkaido Food Park, where signature regional winter dishes are on offer. A number ofassistance and information services are located there as well.
7-chome showcases a different nation each year with a large snow sculpture that depicts afamous building or scene from that country.
8-chome is HTB Snow Square, the site of another large snow sculpture, dining, and a restarea.
9-chome is Citizens’ Square and features many sculptures by Sapporo citizens.

10-chome is the site of the last of the large snow sculptures, a medium snow sculpture, anddining options.
11-chome is International Square, the site of the International Snow Sculpture Contest andInternational Square Gourmet Street.
12-chome hosts the final Citizens’ Square, with snow sculptures crafted by Sapporo citizens.
Information and Assistance
Odori Park has two tourist information centers, at 6-chome and 9-chome. Volunteers who
speak English, Korean, and Thai are regularly available to offer assistance, and somevolunteers also serve as interpreter-guides. Communication in other languages is possible via
tablet.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Making the Largest Snow Sculptures
Five enormous snow sculptures are among the main attractions of the Sapporo Snow Festival.
The designs change from year to year, and the sculptures are often faithful reproductions ofbuildings or depictions of characters from popular culture. Some are as tall as a four- or fivestory building, and all require a vast amount of snow. Two of these sculptures are constructedby members of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Forces (GSDF). The remaining three are madeby citizens’ groups led by retired GSDF members.
Snow is brought in by truck to the sites in Odori Park where the sculptures are to be built. For
many sculptures, a framework and scaffolding are constructed and cranes are used to fill theframework with snow. The snow is then packed down into a dense, solid mass. The frame islater removed and the sculpture is carved. Some designs also use handcrafted bricks of snow
made by tightly packing snow into individual molds. Lighting is added in the final stages, andmany large sculptures serve as a surface for video projections.
Up to 30,000 tons of snow are needed for the festival each year, about half of which is used
for the large snow sculptures. As many as 10,000 people might help transport snow and shape
the sculptures in a given year. The weather can have a big impact on the work. Because thedates when the festival is to be held are decided in advance, the schedule for transporting thesnow is also fixed. If it rains, or if the weather is unseasonably warm and a sculpture needs tobe repaired, production teams often work overtime at night.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Projection Mapping
At night, brilliant colors wash over the pure white sculptures and the surrounding landscapeat Odori Park through the use of illumination and projection mapping.
Projection mapping transforms the snow sculptures and other objects into realistic yet
fantastical scenes of color filled with motion and sound. Projections of computer-generated
graphics are overlaid onto the snow, and are synchronized with music that is often createdespecially for the show. Each of the projection-mapping shows lasts around four minutes.
Before projection mapping was introduced in 2013, attendance at the festival peaked aroundnoon. Now, most visitors arrive around 7 or 8 p.m., and the projection mapping shows are aprime reason.
One variation on the projection-mapping theme at Odori Park is an exclusive app that lets
festivalgoers use a smartphone or other mobile device to unlock hidden content that uses
augmented reality technology. Those without a smart device may borrow one at no charge at
the festival site.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Citizen’s Sculptures
The larger snow sculptures at the festival are based on planned themes, and are built byinternational teams, members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, and groups organized bycorporate sponsors. However, the local community also has an opportunity to participate in
the “Citizens’ Snow Sculptures” category. Teams apply in advance and choose their own
themes, which tend to reflect Japanese life and pop culture as well as aspects of Hokkaido.
Perennial favorites are anime characters like Doraemon and the Minions.
The citizens’ sculptures are created over several days leading up to the festival. Passersby
often stop to watch the sculptures take shape and cheer on the teams making them. Once thefestival starts, visitors can vote for their favorite citizens’ sculpture using a special
smartphone app, and the winner is announced on the last day. The citizens’ sculptures can befound throughout Odori Park, with the majority located in Citizens’ Square in 9-chome.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------International Snow Sculpture Competition
The International Snow Sculpture Contest is a major part of the Sapporo Snow Festival.
Every year, teams from countries and regions around the world compete to make the mostimpressive sculpture. The competition demonstrates Sapporo’s commitment to fostering
positive relations with the international community and has opened up avenues of cultural
exchange and creativity. The international competition began in 1974 with teams from six
countries, and teams from 37 different countries and regions have taken part in thecompetition over the years.
The subjects depicted in the international competition are often quite different from thosechosen by local sculptors. A team from New Zealand once created a giant rugby ball, and one
year a Polish team portrayed a young Mother Nature. Teams from tropical countries where
snow never falls also regularly enter the contest. Thai teams have participated in many years,
one time creating a cheerful band of elephants, and another time the imposing facade of a
grand palace in Bangkok. Malaysian teams have appeared often as well, one year building asculpture of four proboscis monkeys.
The three-person teams have a long time to plan their sculptures, but they must constructthem in just five days. Visitors are allowed to watch the teams create their entries and cantalk freely with the team members.
The international sculpture competition takes place in the 11-chome block of Odori Park. The
Sapporo TV Tower affords a bird’s-eye perspective of the competition as well as all the snow
and ice sculptures in the park. From the tower, it is possible to see all the way to the Olympic
ski jump on Mt. Okura in clear weather.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Shiroi Koibito Park Air Jump
Many top-ranked skiers and snowboarders in Japan travel to Sapporo for the Shiroi Koibito
Park Air Jump. During the snow festival, they compete in tournaments and perform
exhibition jumps. The action takes place in HTB Park Air Square in Odori Park at 3-chome,on a jump hill measuring 24 meters high and 65 meters long. The steepest run of the slope
has a pitch of 39 degrees, allowing competitors to reach breathtaking speeds. Elite skiers andsnowboarders speed down the short course performing jumps and other acrobatics,
sometimes as a synchronized team.
Both snowboarders and skiers compete in tournaments including junior sessions, night
sessions, and a special mogul session. This fast and dynamic event started in 2007 and draws
crowds of winter-sports enthusiasts. The events are open for public viewing, but no seating isavailable at the site.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Outdoor Activities at Tsudome
The Tsudome venue is located about 10
kilometers away from Odori Park andfeatures a variety of outdoor winter sports
and recreational activities. Nearly twodozen options offer fun in the snow for all
ages.
SlidesThe Tube Slide runs down a 100-meterlong slope with high sides to keep both
adults and children safe. There are six
lanes to minimize wait times.
The Waku-Waku Slider has several lanes
for sleds and tubes, including two
designed for tandem tube rides for an
adult and a child.
The Ice Slide offers two “family lanes”
for paired riders as well as lanes for single
sliders.
Toddlers and younger children canwhoosh through tunnels in the snow at the
Tunnel Slide.
Other activities
The Waku Waku Snow Park includes four areas: a snow maze, a snow tunnel, a site forbuilding snowmen, and an area for general snow play.
Two types of snow golf are on offer: a six-hole snow golf course and snow “foot golf,” afusion of soccer and golf.
The Snowball Challenger is a simple game of throwing snowballs at a target to win a prize.
“Snow rafts” pulled over snowy fields by snowmobiles are popular with visitors of all ages.
There is also a slope for traditional sledding, too.
For Younger Children
Several options are open to children under four. Snow Kids Adventure offers snow striders(ski-equipped push bikes for the snow), which kids as young as two years old can use. There
are ski-equipped kick scooters as well.
Quieter Pursuits
Activities at Tsudome include a number of more sedate options, including observing snow
crystals through a magnifying glass, and being partially buried in snow and having acommemorative photo taken. At the Snow Festival Ice Café, visitors can make a glass out of
ice and then enjoy a soft drink or alcoholic beverage in it. Still another option is to walkaround appreciating the “welcome” snow sculptures created by local residents and the “snowobjects” made by high school students.
General Information
Tsudome opens on the last day of January, several days before the other venues, and remains
in operation for two weeks. The venue opens daily at 9 a.m. and closes around sunset. Whenvisiting Tsudome, warm ski clothing or snowsuits are strongly recommended, including hatsand gloves. Shuttle buses and taxis run regularly between Tsudome and the center of the city.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Inside the Dome at Tsudome
The dome at Tsudome offers food and indoor activities during the snow festival. There arefood stalls selling Hokkaido specialties, a café, a restaurant, a children’s area with inflatableplayground equipment, and stage events. The dome holds 3,000 people and functions as amulti-purpose hall and sports venue during the rest of the year.
To EatThe Hokkaido Gourmet Fair features booths offering dishes from regions throughout theisland. For a sit-down meal, there is Tsudome Hot Café, serving Hokkaido specialties. Snow
Festival Teahouse Yoshikawa offers lighter fare like matcha and sweets.
To Do
The Snow Education Square provides information about snow and winter sports, completewith virtual reality (VR) experiences of winter sports such as ice hockey.
Kids Park has a large inflatable slide and other climbing and jumping activities, including abouncing area in the shape of Hokkaido. Fees are charged for each attraction in Kids Park,and two-hour passes for all the attractions are available on weekdays.
To SeeA variety of performances including yosakoi dance, musical acts, and appearances by popularcharacters are staged each day, generally from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Information and Services
Information in multiple languages is available at the Information Counter. Cash machines,
luggage storage, and other services are available as well. Shuttle buses and taxis queue
outside the dome to return visitors to the center of the city.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tsudome’s Smaller Sculptures
The outdoor venue at Tsudome includes two groups of small snow sculptures.
The first group features row upon row of small snow creatures that greet festivalgoers withmessages that sometimes include photos of their creators. These “welcome” statues are
snowy stand-ins for local residents who did not make snow sculptures elsewhere in thefestival. They are created to convey how much the people of Sapporo, and Hokkaido ingeneral, appreciate the presence of all who visit. These little figures are typicallyaccompanied by larger ones from pop culture.
The second group consists of “snow objects” made by students in art clubs at local highschools. These statues tend to reflect pop-culture themes such as anime and manga charactersand popular music artists. Their student-creators are much like the group of kids who built
the first statues back in 1950 and helped launch the Sapporo Snow Festival.
The snow objects built by students are part of a contest. Viewers can vote for their favorite
using an app called Sapporo Gourmet Coupon. Everyone who votes will be entered into araffle to win coupons worth ¥100–¥1,000 that can be used at designated restaurants.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Susukino Site
Susukino is the center of nightlife in Sapporo, andSusukino Ice World is the setting for a sparkling
display of illuminated ice sculptures. The event runs
from early to mid-February, and the main avenue inSusukino is closed to traffic during that time. Sixty
elaborate ice sculptures carved by chefs from local
hotels and restaurants line the center of the street.
Many of the sculptures are entered in a contest that
occurs soon after the event opens in early February.
Everyone can vote for their favorite at one of the fiveballot boxes onsite.
Some of the ice sculptures are massive, and virtually
all of them have delicate details that take great skill
and patience to carve. Creatures real and imagined
are a favorite theme, and past works have ranged
from giant bottles of whiskey to Japanese courtly
figures in traditional dress. The sculptures are brightand dazzling during the day, but take on a totallydifferent aspect when illuminated at night.
Susukino is just south of Odori Park, and the sculptures line the street from Susukino Stationin the north toward Nakajima Park to the south. Sculptures are divided into six “blocks”
designated A through F.
The first thing to greet visitors is an enormous ice pagoda. Next are Block A and Block B,
where the main ice sculptures are located.
Block C is where the ice sculptures entered in the contest are displayed, while Block D has an
information center and the Ice Bar. The Ice Bar is built of translucent bricks of ice and serves
hot beverages.
At Block E is the canopy of lights called
Illumination Road, as well as the site for
ice-carving demonstrations.
Block F is the place to actively engage
with some of the sculptures. Visitors cango down an ice slide and climb into ice
cars. Also in this block are carvings of
popular TV characters.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ice Sculptures at Susukino
Ice carving at Susukino Ice World has evolved into a major facet of the snow festival. Like
the snow festival, it takes advantage of winter resources: an abundance of available ice andcold temperatures that keep the finished sculptures intact throughout the festival.
The ice sculptures on display are elaborate and quite detailed. They depict everything fromsea creatures to motorcycles to manga and anime characters, and animals both real andimagined. Also on exhibit are blocks of clear ice with fish and shellfish embedded in them,looking like slabs taken from a sea that has abruptly frozen over. The sculptures come in arange of sizes. Some are less than 1 meter tall while others are buildings such as a pagoda andan Ice Bar that serves beverages to festivalgoers.
Ice carving is an established tradition in Susukino. Local chefs have been carving large ice
sculptures for hotel banquets and platters made of ice for serving sashimi for decades. Thereis even a local organization called the Ice Sculpture Society, which is dedicated to the craft.
The festival includes demonstrations of this unusual art, in which the sculptors shape stacked
slabs of ice into figures. A contest to determine the best ice sculpture takes place during thefirst two days of the festival, when visitors can vote for their favorite at any of the five ballot
boxes provided.

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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Welfare Volunteer House
Welfare Volunteer House provides services to assist visitors to the Sapporo Snow Festival.
Services include mobility support, sign-language interpretation, guidance and information in
English, and help to reunite lost children with their families. The services and equipment areprovided by an NPO called “Te to Te” (“hand to hand”), which is run by local residents who
work throughout the year to prepare for the festival.
Mobility Support
Te to Te provides special wheelchairs and canes designed
for the snow. Two types of wheelchairs are available. One
kind has mini skis and dozens of this type are on hand at
the festival venue. The other type has balloon tires andchains for extra traction. Only one unit is available, so areservation is essential. Wheelchair users may also borrowa Nuku Nuku, a kind of zip-front parka for the whole bodythat was designed by Te to Te. Special canes that have an
ice pick in the tip for stability on the snow and ice are also
provided.
Volunteers are available to accompany users of thisequipment while they visit the festival. In addition tologistical help, these volunteers provide companionshipand information about the festival.
Location and Reservations
Welfare Volunteer House is located in the main Odori Park venue at 6-chome. Reservations
for equipment and other support can be made in advance online, or in person at Welfare
Volunteer House between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Equipment can also be delivered to hotels
near Sapporo Station and the Odori and Susukino sites. There is no charge for equipment orservices.
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