Sapporo Snow Festival
 |
| Sapporo Snow Festival | |
|---|---|
 Central Sapporo, 2007 | |
| Genre | Snow Festival |
| Dates | February |
| Location(s) | Sapporo, Japan |
| Years active | 1950–present |
The Sapporo Snow Festival (さっぽろ雪まつり, Sapporo Yuki-matsuri) is a festival held annually in
In 2007 (57th festival), about two million people visited Sapporo to see the hundreds of snow statues and ice sculptures at the Odori Park and Susukino sites, in central Sapporo, and at the Satoland site.[1] An International Snow Sculpture Contest has been held at the Odori Park site since 1974, and 14 teams from various regions of the world participated in 2008.[2]
The subject of the statues varies and often features an event, famous building or person from the previous year. For example, in 2004, there were statues of
Every year the number of statues displayed is around 400 in total.[citation needed] In 2007, there were 307 statues created at the Odori Park site, 32 at the Satoland site and 100 at the Susukino site. A good view of the creations can be had from the TV Tower at the Odori Park site.[1]
History
The Snow Festival began as a one-day event in 1950, when six local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park. In 1955 the Japan Self-Defense Forces from the nearby Makomanai base joined in and built the first massive snow sculptures, for which the Snow Festival has now become famous. Several snow festivals existed in Sapporo prior to the Sapporo Snow Festival, however, all of these were suspended during World War II.[3]
On 4 February 1966, a flight from Sapporo to Tokyo
In years when the accumulated snowfall is low, the Self-Defense Force, for whom participation is considered a training exercise, brings in snow from outside Sapporo. The Makomanai base, one of three main sites from 1965,[4] hosted the largest sculptures, with an emphasis on providing play space for children. Use of the Makomanai site was suspended in 2005 and moved to the Sapporo Satoland site located in Higashi-ku from 2006. In 2009, the Satoland site was moved to the Tsudome (つどーむ, Tsudōmu, Sapporo Community Dome) site. The Tsudome, located close to the Sapporo Satoland, is a dome for multiple sports events.[citation needed]
Nakajima Park was established as one of the festival sites in 1990. However, it was removed as a site in 1992.
On 7 February 2012 (63rd Festival), a snow sculpture of Snow Miku (Hatsune Miku) collapsed on the Odori Park 6th Venue, where a female tourist was injured. This accident was the first injury in the history of the Snow Festival from the collapse of a snow sculpture. The collapse was likely due to imbalance caused by disproportionately thin supporting legs to the main mass of the sculpture. Additionally, the temperature on February 6 was 3.3 degrees Celsius, and the temperature on 7th was 2.2 degrees Celsius, likely causing it to become brittle and more prone to collapse. In response to this, the executive committee demolished all or part of the heavy snow sculptures and ten civilian snow sculptures as there was a risk of collapse.[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b The outline of the Sapporo Snow Festival Archived 13 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ International Snow Sculpture Contest, English page Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Sapporo Board of Education. "Sapporo Bunko No.47" Hokkaidō News Bureau, 1998.
- ^ a b "History of the Sapporo Snow Festival". Archived from the original on 21 December 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- ^ Sommerlad, Joe (4 February 2019). "Sapporo Snow Festival 2019: What is the annual ice sculpture extravaganza in Japan?". The Independent. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
- ^ "Falling snow sculpture injures woman at Sapporo Snow Festival". Japan Today. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
External links
- Official website
(in English)
