photo by iyoupapa
A landscape completely covered with the snow in pure white. Such magnificent scenery can deeply impress many foreign tourists who have never seen the snow before. This article introduces several winter festivals that are acclaimed among foreign tourists. You will be surely attracted by the beauty of the snow as well as a variety of artworks on offer at the festivals.
Sapporo Snow Festival – Winter Festival in Hokkaido
When it comes to winter festivals, the first thing immediately comes to your mind probably is Sapporo Snow Festival. It attracts more than two million visitors within and beyond the country. It is no exaggeration to say that Sapporo Snow Festival is the most representative among the winter festivals in Japan. It is held for a week in early February every year, with Odori Park in Sapporo as a main venue. Large snow sculptures of a high quality are the trademark of Sapporo Snow Festival, which are created by amateurs such as a group of current members of Self-Defence Forces and the veterans, local volunteers, and city council employees. You cannot help drawing sighs of admiration at the meticulous details of these sculptures. Sapporo Snow Festival does not only offer artworks to admire but also a number of activities to get involved. They have such eccentric activities as a tube slider of 100m in length (!!) and a ride on a rafting boat towed by snow mobiles (!!!). These activities are for adults as well as for kids. A variety of events, which take advantage of food culture in Hokkaido, also take place during the festival. The venue will be beautifully lit up in the evening, so you can enjoy the festival throughout the day – make sure to wrap up warm!
Sapporo Snow Festival
Odori Park, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido and other venues
Tsunan Snow Festival – Winter Festival in Niigata
Tsunan Snow Festival is held every mid-March in Tsunan-cho, Niigata, which is known to be one of the snowiest areas in the world. For those who find it hard to imagine how deep the snow in this area could be, the height of the snow can easily reach 3m…! Making the most of the deep snow this festival holds “SNOWWAVE”, one of the largest snowboarding straight jumping championships in Japan. After the heated matches, the festival is concluded by a launch of sky lanterns. A lantern in hand, a thousand of participants let them fly into the sky. The serene nightscape with a number of beautiful lanterns is almost like a scene from a Disney film, Rapunzel. You would not expect to see such scenery in Japan…! Other attractions include kamakura (snow hut) experience and meeting tengu, a mystical creature worshipped in Japan. This festival will warm up your winter days.
Tsunan Snow Festival
585 Shimofunato Bo, Tsunan-cho, Nakauonuma-gun, Niigata
Hakuba Snow Love Festival – Winter Festival in Nagano
Hakuba Snow Love Festival takes place every year for a week around the St. Valentine’s Day in Hakuba-mura, Nagano. The highlight of the festival is an event called “Happy St Valentine’s Night” which brings you happiness. As part of the event, fireworks are launched in the clear winter sky above ski slopes covered in the snow. It will make the most romantic night. On the first day of the festival, “Hakuba Iwatake Thanksgiving Festival” is held in Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field, where tonjiru (miso-based soup with pork), Japanese sake, amazake (a sweet hot drink made from fermented rice) and beer are served for free. The village is decorated with snow sculptures made by the villagers to welcome visitors. Of course, ski resorts and slopes are all open during the festival. It is highly recommended to pay a visit to Hakuba at this time of the year since you can see unusual spectacles such as skiing demonstration with firebrands.
Hakuba Snow Love Festival
Hakuba-mura, Kitaazumi-gun, Nagano
Yunishigawa Kamakura Festival – Winter Festival in Tochigi
Yunishigawa Kamakura Festival has become a part of event calendar of Nikko, one of the most famous sightseeing spots in Japan. The festival is held between late January and early March every year. Kamakura, or a snow hut, is a shelter made of snow. It is not only for accommodating people but also considered as an altar for a god. During the festival, you can enjoy the luxury of having a barbecue in kamakura, which accommodates four adults (reservation required)! You might imagine it to be cold in kamakura, but it is not the case – it is unexpectedly warm inside. Why don’t you try going into one? After having fun at the main venue, you should take a walk to the main street of onsen resort. They host an installation of many unique snowmen called “Yukidaruma Street (Snowmen Street)”, which has become a regular entertainment of the festival. You’ll love the display of a number of unique and cute snowmen. Along the riverbank near the festival venue, more than a thousand miniature kamakura are lit up to create a brilliant nightscape. The lighting-up installation itself has been listed as one of Historic and Cultural Nightscape Heritage by “A night view inheritance of Japan”. Other attractions include a snow slide of 4 meters high and open-air bath surrounded by snow. Since the festival takes place in the mountain, you will need to make sure that your car is equipped with studless tires; but it is certainly worth while visiting!
Yunishigawa Kamakura Festival
Yunishigawa Onsen district, Nikko-shi, Tochigi
Snow Wall Walk – Winter Festival in Toyama
This event takes place between April and June every year and invites the visitors to experience a walk in a close proximity to the great walls of snow in Tateyama, one of the snowiest areas in the world. You can have an epic walk near the snow walls of 20 meters high at 2,450 meters above sea level. This road between the walls is created by a bulldozer slowly digging through the heavy snow for a month. Using GPS, they precisely locate where the paved road is with immaculate accuracy. Walking next to the huge walls of snow for 500 meters may scare you, but the walls are hardened as they are tightly compressed from the weight of the snow. Some say they are as hard as a large slab of rock. Please feel reassured since there has never been an incident where the walls collapsed. This area still has a large amount of snow even between April and June when the event takes place. Do make sure to wrap up warm so that you can explore outdoor yourself!
Snow Wall Walk
Murodo, Ahikuraji, Tateyamam-machi, Nakaniikawa-gun, Toyama
Try to Observe the Snowflakes
If you are going to see the snow for the first time in Japan, take a moment to observe the snowflakes. It might be hard to see with naked eyes, but you can easily source a couple of tools in 100-yen shops, such as a small magnifier and a piece of black paper or fabric. Catch some snowflakes on the paper or cloth and take a good look with your magnifier, then you will see snowflakes in various shapes.
