Sapporo Snow Festival

I took my first trip up to Hokkaido, the northernmost main island in Japan, this past weekend to view the beautiful creations of the Sapporo Snow Festival. Held annually in early February, this week-long festival celebrates the chilly, snowy Hokkaido winter with many snow and ice sculptures, some mammoth in proportion, set up in a central area of the city near the Sapporo train station. There are sculptures of popular Japanese animation figures, such as Chibi Maruko-chan (a girl cartoon character), Anpanman (red bean paste-filled bread man), and Doraemon (a futuristic cat). There was a sculpture with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters, as well as a sculpture with a bunch of animals such as an eagle, a bear, and a leopard. There were also sculptures of beautiful buildings with Far East-style architecture.

It was snowing pretty much the entire forty-eight hours I was in Sapporo, Hokkaido's largest city, so it was quite cold, and the wind was strong too. On Saturday afternoon I wandered through the park area and viewed the snow sculptures. After warming up with a nice fish and vegetable lunch in a restaurant located in a seafood market, I returned to the festival area and viewed the ice sculptures, which were in the shapes of animals and mythical creatures such as dragon-like water spirits and mermaids. I also went to the Sapporo Bier Garten for dinner on Saturday night and completed my weekend with an order of Gengis Khan lamb. The weather in Sapporo reminded me of Chicago's bitterly cold winters, and as fun as my trip to Sapporo was, I was relieved to return to the warmth of Kobe on Sunday evening.