Sapporo Snow Festival

It's that time of year when Kelli must venture out into lands covered with God's frozen tears, so profuse that it sometimes hides bikes from their owners...

... and is used to create giant ice and snow sculptures, just for fun (and maybe some tourism). That place was Sapporo during their 65th annual Snow Festival (site is here). To quote their brochure, "Welcome to a world plaza that evokes a pristine snow fantasy." 

The snow festival has snow and ice sculptures in two main places, the Odori site (the purple dot -- it's basically all the green in the map) and the Susukino Site (the red dot) respectively. The easiest way to get there is to take get to the JR Sapporo Station and then from there take the Nanboku line (towards Makomanai) and get off at the Odori Station... it is literally the next stop. If you wish, it's an easy 10 minute walk from the JR station.

We started off checking out the snow sculptures because they're pretty freaking huge. They also apparently represent very warm countries that you wish you were in, rather than being in covered in snow in Sapporo. 

At any rate, they were divided into different sites (12) that are represented in the map above as distinct green blocks. 

The first few included a skating rink, a snowboard/ski air jump, and a "Palace of the Heart" which I did not take pictures of because they weren't that interesting. 

Next was the "Traditional and Modern Taiwan" (oxymoron?), which apparently represented the Ancient Palace Museum (center of sculpture), winged by the Taipei 101 (left side) and the Taiwan Express Railway (right side) ALL COMBINED INTO ONE THING. Wow! Only problem is that I don't have a picture of all that... Please accept the colorful blurry photo of it instead. Little known fact is that Japanese boy bands liked to perform in front of this sculpture.  

Ah, what snow festival would be complete without a "Winter Sports Paradise, Hokkaido!" sculpture? None, that's what. This is Sapporo's tour de force, showing off their prime athletes participating in the Sochi 2014 Olympics. 

Next up was the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, a former federal government and legislation building of Malay, now the office of Culture Division, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia. Do you see that? It's part of the tourism department... I think you see what's going on here. I even added one of the dancers.

After that was the Tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daula, technically located in the capital of New Delhi. Fun fact related to this one was that it required 2,250 tons of snow to make. The real thing is made of marble. Which is superior? You decide.

Okay, pop quiz for the next one... do you think this is a sculpture depicting a scene from Where the Wild Things Are? 

If you did, you are terribly wrong and also like me. Apparently, it's a famous folk tale in Japan where a hero named Momotaro destroyed demons on a faraway island with the help of a dog, monkey and a pheasant (you can see the dog and monkey to the right, and sorta make out the pheasant on the left). 

This beauty is related to the 40th anniversary of be Ponkickies, some TV show that kids watch here. The Japanese man is real and not an ice sculpture.

After that was a mini collection of a fun and amusing variety of different snow creatures... most of these had meanings and cultural significance that was totally lost on me. 

GET READY. So many pictures below...

Shinkansen for my dad.

 I don't get it... what does it mean...???

It's an American statue -- from Misawa.

A cold naked lady staring out in satisfaction...

Susukino was the site of the ice sculptures, and I probably would have never known it existed if it weren't for a friend showing us. 

I'm somewhat lazy so I'll write the brochure's little spiel:

"Large and small ice sculptures created on a theme transcending from 'Seeing Ice' to 'Enjoying Ice', and sculptures created for the contest will be on display. Also, not only can you touch some of the sculptures or get on them, there will be photo opportunities against the back drop of ice and illumination, as well as an 'ice bar' where you will find hot drinks."

And there you have it. Behold the photos!

That's the one you're allowed to get on... and below is the one you can touch!

Below are a picture of some of the lights around the area. My photography skills simply don't do it justice!