It’s been a few months since we visited Japan to experience the winter festivals, but I thought I’d share a few of our photos from our time on Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island. We spent a week in the main city of Sapporo, where the annual festival attracts around 2 million people. We then headed north to the drift ice on the Sea of Okhotsk, visiting more festivals along the way.
What struck us, apart from the bitter cold, was the way in which the festivals involved a lot more than merely staring at ice and snow sculptures, however impressive they were. At each site there was something to do that inevitably had you covered in snow, whether it was throwing yourself down a giant slide or getting towed by a snowmobile in an inflatable raft.
A winter trip to see the Japanese winter festivals had long been on my wish list and the experience didn’t disappoint. A word of advice to anyone heading out: pack plenty of layers and bring the best gloves you can lay your hands on. The temperatures can be brutal and there’s no point travelling all that way only to want to hide away in the warm comfort of your hotel.
Anyway, the photos:
Sapporo Snow Festival. A snow replica of the Mausoleum of Itmad-Ud-Daulah in Agra. Made of 2,250 tonnes of snow (around 450 5-tonne trucks) and using 3,800 volunteers
Transformers-themed light snow at the Asahikawa Winter Festival
Back to Sapporo and a snow version of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur
Guess who sponsored this ice sculpture. Corporate sponsors featured heavily in the Sapporo Snow Festival.
Snow train at the Otaru Snow Light Path Festival
Ice penguins in Asahikawa – it was minus 15C as we wandered around the festival site
Sapporo and the ice sculptures in Susukino, the city’s entertainment district
Otaru Snow Light Path Festival. Snow, light and a path.
Otaru and the frozen canal along which much of the action takes place
Food for sale in Otaru along the festival route
Watching the snow boarders jumping at the Sapporo Snow Festival
Sapporo Snow Festival and something for all ages
Sapporo Snow Festival and that’s me hurtling down the big snow slide (you can’t see my big grin on this one)
We were in Japan to research a set of commissioned articles (published in Spring 2014 issue of Journeys Magazine, National Geographic Traveller blog, Country by Country and TRVL iPad app). Many thanks to Inside Japan Tours for their valuable help along the way.
