All About Japan

Taking Snow Sculptures to the Next Level

Festivals Snow Sapporo Hokkaido

Now in its 68th year, the annual Sapporo Snow Festival continues to draw millions of visitors to the capital city of Hokkaido with its lineup of impressive snow sculptures. Staged over three sites—at Odori Park, Susukino and Tsu Dome—this year the massive sculptures feature an outstanding lineup of local and international stars that made headlines.

The centerpiece of the outdoor collection is an enormous creation that pays homage to Kylo Ren from the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Pictured alongside R2-D2, C-3PO and BB-8, the carefully crafted sculpture towers over visitors who crowd around to bask in its glory.

Another snow sculpture generating a huge amount of interest is this one, which captures a dramatic scene from Final Fantasy VII.

#セフィロス #ffvii #クラウド #雪まつり

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According to Square Enix, their sculpture comes complete with a state-of-the-art surround sound system to help transport visitors to the animated fantasy world using well-known music from FFVII.

PPAP ピコ太郎雪像 大人気です♫ #PPAP#ピコ太郎#雪まつり

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Another well-known star to appear at this year’s festival is singing sensation Piko Taro, who became world-famous following the release of his viral hit, “Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen”.

雪まつり #雪まつり #ig_kids #インスタキッズ #コドモノ #3歳9ヶ月

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Japan’s beloved instant noodle brand Cup Noodle has also been catching the eye of visitors at the festival.

Another exhibit bringing a smile to the faces of festivalgoers is this cute sculpture of Godzilla doing the popular “koi dance” or “love dance” that took Japan by storm in 2016.

The beautiful series of ice sculptures on display at this year’s Sapporo Snow Festival have been carefully crafted by citizens and members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Unfortunately, the time to already see this beauties passed on February 12, but we can't wait to see what the citizens of Sapporo and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force will create next year!

Read full story: en.rocketnews24.com

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