Snow Festival (Sapporo, Japan)
The Sapporo Snow Festival, known as Yuki Matsuri, is an annual winter event held in early February in Sapporo, Japan. Originating in 1950 from a group of local students wanting to combat the winter blues, the festival has grown into Japan's largest winter celebration, attracting millions of visitors from around the world to the northern island of Hokkaido. The festival features hundreds of stunning ice and snow sculptures, including large-scale replicas of famous landmarks, illuminated at night to create a magical atmosphere. An international snow statue competition is also part of the festivities, showcasing the artistry of sculptors from various countries. While the event thrives on the region's cold climate, concerns about climate change have emerged, impacting snow availability in recent years. For instance, the 2020 festival faced challenges due to lower snowfall, necessitating the transportation of snow from other areas. Despite these challenges, the Sapporo Snow Festival continues to be a vibrant celebration of winter creativity and community spirit.
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Snow Festival (Sapporo, Japan)
Snow Festival (Sapporo, Japan)
In early February of every year, the city of Sapporo, Japan, holds a week-long snow festival. The tradition goes back to 1950, when some bored students, tired of the dreary winter months, decided to put on a display of ice and snow sculptures. The event has since mushroomed into the largest winter festival in Japan, attracting many people from other nations as well, with millions of visitors every year.
Sapporo, one of Japan's largest cities, with approximately 2.7 million inhabitants in 2020, is located on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The snow festival is known in Japanese as Yuki Matsuri. Hundreds of ice and snow statues, sculptures, and buildings are erected in several sites throughout Sapporo. The works, such as one particular re-creation of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, can be massive in scale and take weeks to prepare, sometimes requiring the assistance of local units of the Japanese army. At night brilliant colored lights illuminate the sculptures. An international snow statues competition is also held, attracting ice and snow sculptors from all over the world to display their skills.
However, by the beginning of the third decade of the twenty-first century, the continued effects of climate change and global warming caused concern over the future of the festival, whose activities are dependent upon colder temperatures. For the 2020 festival, due to the atypically lower amounts of snowfall in late 2019, the town of Sapporo had to have the snow needed, particularly for the sculptures, brought in on trucks from other cities, and one of the snow slides had to be shortened.
Bibliography
"About the Sapporo Snow Festival." Sapporo Snow Festival Official Website, www.snowfes.com/english/about/. Accessed 1 Apr. 2020.
Jozuka, Emiko. "Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival Had to Import Its Snow This Year." CNN Travel, 12 Feb. 2020, www.cnn.com/travel/article/japan-sapporo-snow-sculpture-festival-climate-crisis-hnk-intl/index.html. Accessed 1 Apr. 2020.
Sommerlad, Joe. "Sapporo Snow Festival 2019: What Is the Annual Ice Sculpture Extravaganza in Japan?" Independent, 4 Feb. 2019, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/sapporo-snow-festival-2019-japan-hokkaido-ice-sculpture-winter-when-date-a8762006.html. Accessed 1 Apr. 2020.