The Antarctic – I thought this was the best snow sculpture. It features "…the Japanese Antarctic expedition ship Soya on the left and the Sakhalin Huskies Taro and Jiro in the center along with a whale, penguins and seals." http://www.snowfes.com/english/place/oodori/index06-10.html
The Antarctic – I thought this was the best snow sculpture. It features "…the Japanese Antarctic expedition ship Soya on the left and the Sakhalin Huskies Taro and Jiro in the center along with a whale, penguins and seals." http://www.snowfes.com/english/place/oodori/index06-10.html10-Feb-2007 00:55Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.008 sec,
Thailand’s Chakri Maha Prasat Grand Palace – Eidan’s there below the camera, dozing in his stroller… More information about this sculpture is at http://www.snowfes.com/english/place/oodori/index06-10.html09-Feb-2007 02:01Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.0025 sec,
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There was no sign for this sculpture, so I’m not sure who it is – probably an anime character10-Feb-2007 00:50Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 4, 10.8125mm, 0.004 sec,
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First Prize Sculpture, by the Hong Kong team – 17 countries competed in making these medium-sized sculptures10-Feb-2007 01:03Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.00625 sec,
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Kai was throwing snow balls almost non-stop the entire time we were in Sapporo10-Feb-2007 01:10Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.008 sec,
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China’s Imperial Palace – This is one of the only ice sculpture’s that didn’t have it’s fine details melt away in Thursday’s warmth. I didn’t catch the name of the boy band performing here.09-Feb-2007 03:18Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 3.5, 9.28125mm, 0.01666666 sec,
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Kingdom of Dreams and Magic – This is a huge promo sculpture for a Lilo and Stich event his spring at Tokyo Disney. The sign said it was actually sculpted by Japan’s 11th Artillery Regiment.09-Feb-2007 03:08Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 4, 10.8125mm, 0.01666666 sec,
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Japan’s Hikone Castle – More information is at http://www.snowfes.com/english/place/oodori/index06-10.html09-Feb-2007 03:27Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 3.2, 6.71875mm, 0.03333333 sec,
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Kai, Look Out for the Whale Shark! This is Kai playing in the snow next to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium sculpture.09-Feb-2007 03:09Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 3.5, 9.28125mm, 0.01666666 sec,
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A traditional Japanese dinner, served in our room at the Nakamuraya Ryokan – http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/db/sapporo/nakamuraya.htm09-Feb-2007 04:14Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.01666666 sec,
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Shimajiro Slide at Satoland – Satoland was a 30 minute bus ride from Odori Park (where the big sculptures were), and was filled with activities for the kids – http://www.snowfes.com/english/place/satorando/index.html09-Feb-2007 21:40Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.0008 sec,
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Make Your Own Ice Cup – This was Kai’s favorite part of Satoland – he got to chisel his own cup out of a block of ice, and then get it filled with a drink.09-Feb-2007 20:47Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.0025 sec,
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Inner Tube Slide09-Feb-2007 22:00Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 9, 7.96875mm, 0.00125 sec,
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"Love from Snowman" – Make a snowman for someone special for Valentine’s Day09-Feb-2007 21:59Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.00125 sec,
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Give the islands back! There are 4 islands close to Hokkaido that are in dispute between Japan and Russia: islands the Japanese claim the Russians seized illegally at the end of WWII. More information is at http://www.qsl.net/ah6hy/occupied.html09-Feb-2007 02:23Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.01666666 sec,
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Political spoof – These ads by Sapporo beer are spoofs of political campaign posters. This guy is running for the "umai party" (umai = good, delicious)09-Feb-2007 03:21Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.01666666 sec,
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Latest Japan Tobacco ads – This poster contains the latest humorous ads from Japan tobacco for "responsible smoking." Smoking hasn’t been marginalized in Japan like it is in the US, and this is part of Japan Tobacco’s efforts to keep it that way (this is analogous to the "responsible drinking" ads put our by beer companies in the US)09-Feb-2007 02:02Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.003125 sec,
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Do it yourself ice melting – in Sapporo the city provides bags of slt that folks can use at their own discretion when the streets get icy10-Feb-2007 00:33Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.003125 sec,
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Susukino Ice Scupltures – It was warm the day before we arrived, and the fine details of the ice sculptures had all melted away. It was a shame – they went on for about 5 blocks, but by the time we got there, they didn’t look like much.10-Feb-2007 21:19Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 7.1, 5.40625mm, 0.002 sec,
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“Sorry, it’s too warm” – This sign is apologizing for the warmth melting the ice sculptures. Gomen nasai – Atataka sugite10-Feb-2007 21:25Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 10, 10.8125mm, 0.002 sec,
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Sapporo’s Clock Tower – This is one of just a handful of 19th century buildings still standing in Sapporo. It may not look like much by US standards, but this kind of building is quite unusual for Hokkaido, and it’s a major tourist attraction. More information is at http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/hokkaido/sapporo_tokeidai.html10-Feb-2007 23:37Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.0015625 sec,
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![Old Hokkaido Government Building - "When completed [in 1888], it was one of the largest and tallest buildings in Japan and symbolized the prestige and importance the Meiji Government placed on the development of Hokkaido...Why the popular name akarenga? [akai=red, renga=brick] The building is constructed from 2.5 million or so red bricks that are laid in the French style. Brick buildings are rare in Japan - great big red brick buildings are bound to attract some attention."](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_e1IlgcNcTSg/R5nz9rtpomI/AAAAAAAABzI/V6zkAUUGR10/200702b%20040.jpg?imgmax=160&crop=1 "Old Hokkaido Government Building - \"When completed [in 1888], it was one of the largest and tallest buildings in Japan and symbolized the prestige and importance the Meiji Government placed on the development of Hokkaido...Why the popular name akarenga? [akai=red, renga=brick] The building is constructed from 2.5 million or so red bricks that are laid in the French style. Brick buildings are rare in Japan - great big red brick buildings are bound to attract some attention.\"")
Old Hokkaido Government Building – "When completed [in 1888], it was one of the largest and tallest buildings in Japan and symbolized the prestige and importance the Meiji Government placed on the development of Hokkaido…Why the popular name akarenga? [akai=red, renga=brick] The building is constructed from 2.5 million or so red bricks that are laid in the French style. Brick buildings are rare in Japan – great big red brick buildings are bound to attract some attention."10-Feb-2007 20:35Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 10, 10.8125mm, 0.008 sec,
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Dororo movie poster – This movie is a very big deal here right now. There was a small snow sculpture to go with it, but it had melted. A subtitled version will probably show up in the US within a year or so. Check out the movie’s web site – http://www.dororo.jp/ – they have a trailer (only in Japanese though).09-Feb-2007 02:04Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.0125 sec,
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Sapporo’s Ramen Alley – As you might imagine from the picture, this was a bit hard to find, but worth the trip. I love pho, udon, and soba, but I’ve never gotten too excited about ramen. But for lunch I had my first really memorable bowl of ramen miso ramen, which was invented in Sapporo – http://www.seimen.co.jp/wonderland/gotouchi/sapporo_e.html10-Feb-2007 21:43Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.003125 sec,
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Sapporo Station – It’s a 30 minute train ride from New Chitose airport to Sapporo Station. Except for covered train platforms, you can get from the airport to Sapporo without venturing outside (nice when traveling with kids in freezing temperatures).11-Feb-2007 00:14Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.0015625 sec,
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Our trip to the Snow Festival is one of three major ventures we planned for outside of Tokyo while we’re here (the other two are Kyoto and Okinawa, in the spring). Overall it was a great trip, and as you can see from the photos, the snow sculptures were amazing. I don’t think Kai has ever had so much fun, and, unfortunately, I don’t think Eidan’s ever been so miserable. He had a good 24 hours before we left, having just recovered from the stomach flu. But, as we discovered in our first night in the ryokan, the disruptiveness of the travel triggered a relapse (let’s just say this “discovery” entailed an extra cleaning charge for our room).
But first let me tell you about the 90 minute flight from Tokyo to Hokkaido. This was the second time I’ve flown on ANA airlines, and both times have been a real pleasure. The discomfort and general unpleasantness of flying on US-based airlines is not something you’ll experience on ANA. They retain an emphasis on service that doesn’t make you feel like cattle when flying coach. I should point out that my evaluation of the experience may be biased by the fact that the all female flight crew looked like models. I imagine they are all “promoted” in some way or other before they hit 35 (see this “Ask the Pilot” column for more on how many Asian airlines still have attractive-women-only policies for flight attendants).
A few other differences I noticed: At Tokyo’s Haneda airport, for carry-on liquids, they have scanners that somehow detect whether they’re dangerous or not. I haven’t seen these in the US yet. There’s security at the baggage claim – you have to show your claim ticket before you can leave with your bags (I’ve always been amazed that the baggage claim areas in the US are completely open to the public). The only negative is that you can’t claim a stroller at the gate – you have to carry your kid to the baggage claim area.
Sapporo is Japan’s 5th largest city. I’d say that I really liked it, if it wasn’t so mind-numbingly cold (it’s on just about the same parallel as Russia’s Vladivostok, if that helps you place it). It’s not nearly as overwhelming as Tokyo, but has enough “big city” attractions to still have some dazzle. We were there for three days, and taking in the Snow Festival dominated our time.
The first nine pictures are from Odori Park, which was where all the large snow sculptures were on display. I’d never seen anything like these before. The Japanese Army is a big player in the festival, as they built several of the largest sculptures. The Park is a long, narrow strip that divides the north and south sections of the city. There were some ice sculptures there as well, but they weren’t in very good shape, as it had been a bit too warm in the days before we got there, and their details had melted away (but it was plenty cold on the days we were there!). From what I read, they were able to fix up the snow sculptures after the warm weather passed by packing new snow on them and re-making the finer details, but that’s not possible with ice.
Kai was thrilled just to be in the snow. Everywhere we walked, he and I were having a running snowball fight, or – when there were too many innocent bystanders around – he was building little spaceships out of snow and then crashing them into the ground.
We stayed in the Nakamuraya Ryokan, which I highly recommend if you ever find yourself in Sapporo. It’s not too expensive, and not too fancy, but the rooms are comfortable and the food was very tasty. Maria was smart and booked the room back in November, as the Festival attracts about two million visitors that overwhelm the local hotels.
The next sequence of pictures is from Satoland, which was on a field in the outskirts of town. This was the snow playground area for the kids, with ice slides, a snow maze, and lots more. It ended up not working out too well, as there were waits of up to an hour for just about everything – lines that were too long for two little boys to stand in the cold. We probably should have gone on a weekday instead of the weekend, to avoid some of the crowds. Nonetheless, it was cool to see it, and Kai enjoyed chiseling his own cup out of a block of ice, and taking it to an ice bar for a kiddie drink (this was one of the few activities where there wasn’t a long wait).
We visited Susikino, which was the part of Sapporo where they had a 5 block long display of ice sculptures. Like the ones in Odori Park, the warm weather in the days before we arrived was not good for them, and sadly, they were no longer much to look at. But this put us near ramen alley, where we had an excellent ramen lunch in a shop that had a dining area about as big as a large bathroom (it had just enough room for two small tables). The staff consisted of a middle-aged couple – a true mom and pop shop.
We also spent some time in Sopporo’s two enormous underground shopping malls. It makes sense in a place this cold to put the malls underground. The two malls are laid out in long, narrow strips perpendicular to each other, which makes them a nice way to get across town without having to walk in the cold outside (a big plus with kids). While walking through, I had the surreal experience of hearing a Japanese cover version of the Skids’ 1978 song “The Saints are Coming” being piped in (but I imagine it was probably inspired more by the 2006 U2/Green Day cover than by the original).
Thankfully, Eidan was feeling better by the time we returned to Haneda airport last night, and he’s eating well again now for the first time in about a week.
I’ve included a lot of commentary in the photo captions, so you’ll find details on the sights there.
I told Maria that if we ever come see the Snow Festival again, we should stay for the day after it as well – it’d be fun to watch these things get bulldozed.
Similar Posts
The Antarctic – I thought this was the best snow sculpture. It features "…the Japanese Antarctic expedition ship Soya on the left and the Sakhalin Huskies Taro and Jiro in the center along with a whale, penguins and seals." http://www.snowfes.com/english/place/oodori/index06-10.html
![Old Hokkaido Government Building - "When completed [in 1888], it was one of the largest and tallest buildings in Japan and symbolized the prestige and importance the Meiji Government placed on the development of Hokkaido...Why the popular name akarenga? [akai=red, renga=brick] The building is constructed from 2.5 million or so red bricks that are laid in the French style. Brick buildings are rare in Japan - great big red brick buildings are bound to attract some attention."](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_e1IlgcNcTSg/R5nz9rtpomI/AAAAAAAABzI/V6zkAUUGR10/200702b%20040.jpg?imgmax=720 "Old Hokkaido Government Building - \"When completed [in 1888], it was one of the largest and tallest buildings in Japan and symbolized the prestige and importance the Meiji Government placed on the development of Hokkaido...Why the popular name akarenga? [akai=red, renga=brick] The building is constructed from 2.5 million or so red bricks that are laid in the French style. Brick buildings are rare in Japan - great big red brick buildings are bound to attract some attention.\"")
February 13th, 2007 at 1:16 am
I have great memories of visiting the yuki-matsuri with my folks when I was a kid. Most of the exhibitions had giant slides for the kids and there were lots of scale model ice sculptures of things like the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower. The last time I went was as an adult to go snowboarding with a friend who had relatives living in Sapporo. We drove to Aomori and then took the car ferry for a nausea inducing overnight trip (winter seas are pretty rough) We hit about 5 different ski resorts and the snow was exceptional, with the exception of the Teine Highlands (site of the 1972 Winter Olympics) which was cold, windy, and icy.