Festival of the snow of Sapporo

The festival of the Neige of Sapporo (さっぽろ雪祭り) is an event which takes place at the beginning of February each year since 1950 in three sites: the park Ôdori, Susukino, and at the base of the Forces of self-defense of Makomanai. Principal attractions are sculptures of snow of more or less great dimensions, but of the statues of ice are also exposed on the site of Susukino.

This demonstration attracts visitors not only of Hokkaidō, but also of all the Japan and even from abroad. In 2005 it joined together 2,19 million visitors during eight days.

History

The first festival of snow

The first festival was born in 1950, on the initiative of the municipality and the trade union of tourism of Sapporo. The daily newspaper Hokkai Times (whose publication stopped in 1998) was implied also much. Previously, several festivals had rate/rhythm the season of winter in Sapporo, but they had been stopped during the Second world war.

The idea to form a festival around statues of snow takes as a starting point a festival of this type which was organized since 1935 at the elementary school Kitatemiya d' Otaru.

At the time of the first festival of snow six statues of snow were carried out by the pupils of the colleges and the colleges. The national Railroads made also their own sculptures of snow in front of the station of Sapporo.

Among other attractions, one can quote the contest of songs, tumbling, modern western public garden dance (squares), of the spectacles, the races of Traineau X with Chien S, a parade with Ski, a projection of cinema (whose Ginrei No hastens of Senkichi Taniguchi). The public garden dance was cancelled at the end of thirty minutes, because the dancers skidded on the glaze. In the same way, the projection of cinema was stopped by the collapse of the screen pushed by pedestrians skidding on the glaze. But success was such as one decided to renew the festival the following year.

Growth

The first sculptures of snow were limited in height to seven meters, but in 1953, for the fourth festival, the industrial Lycée of Sapporo with Hokkaïdo built a named sculpture Shôten, a fifteen meters height. Its design rested on a technique of Voûte using the blocks of snow like stones of construction, and as of great quantities of snow were necessary, the town of Sapporo provides Camion S and Bulldozer S. It was the starting point of the current giant sculptures requiring the use of mechanized means.

In 1954 the fifth festival inaugurated the sculptures built by ordinary citizens. In 1955 the diversity of the participants increased with the addition of the sculptures of the forces of self-defense, and the appendices of the town hall.

In 1959 the tourists non-hokkaïdoites started to flow. In 1972, the year of the Olympic Games of Sapporo, the festival of snow was the attraction of the whole world and it was the beginning of the visits of foreign tourists.

As from 1974 an international contest of sculptures of snow made it possible foreign cities to take part.

In 1981 the festival of the ice of Susukino began in the form from an independent event, but it joined the organization of the festival of snow in 1983.

The Nakajima park of the Chûô-ku district became in 1990 the fourth site of the festival, before being removed in 1993. The reason most frequently called upon to justify this suppression is the lack of attractivity of the sculptures of snow mainly made by the ordinary citizens, of which too much little was of big size.

Participation of the Forces of self-defense

Independently of the festival of snow, the soldiers of the base of the Forces of self-defense of Makomanai were accustomed to building sculptures of snow as an entertainment or as a drive to familiarize itself with snow. In 1955 the Forces of self-defense built their first sculpture of snow to the Ôdori park, but it is in 1963 qu ' they opened with the public the doors of the base of Makomanai which became thus a site of the festival of snow with whole share, integrated officially to the organization of the festival in 1965.

While placing at the disposal of the festival of impressive human and technical means, the Forces of self-defense, which improved their techniques unceasingly, became soon an inevitable actor of the festival, so much so that one could say that the giant sculptures, when they were not built by them, were it thanks to their collaboration.

In 2001, because of the law of organization of the device anti-terrorist, the participation of the forces of self-defense started to decrease, which the town of Sapporo compensated for by a recruitment of voluntary. At present, even from voluntary the non-hokkaïdoites come to place itself at the disposal of the festival. But the voluntary ones being by nature an unstable labor, the problem of the transmission of the techniques of construction of the sculptures of snow arises.

Characteristics

Ôdori

Ôdori park: subway Odori and Nishi-juitchome.

In each space one finds a sculpture giant of 40 m broad, one or two average sculptures, and ten small sculptures of 2 side m. The small sculptures are made not only by the inhabitants of Sapporo, but also by participants from all Japan, for example the American soldiers of the base of Misawa (department of Aomori). And in Jujitchôme (eleventh Is unemployed) the international contest accommodates the sculptures of the foreign participants, to begin with the twin town Portland.

Susukino

Subway: Susukino, Hôsui Susukino, Nakajima Kôen

The site extends to the south from the station from Sapporo between the streets Shijô and Shichijô. The streets are pedestrians during all the duration of the festival. Although sponsored by an independent committee, the festival of the ice belongs to the festival of snow. As its name indicates it the heart of the festival is consisted statues of ice, among which one finds the achievements of the cooks of the hotels surrounding, specialists in the decorations of table carved in vegetables or ice.

Makomanai

Subway: Jieitaimae The sculptures are ludic with representations of characters of cartoons and toboggans. Nevertheless because of the law organizing the antiterrorist device, the participation of the Forces of self-defense must decrease and the site of Makomanai will be closed in 2006. The site of replacement is not known.

Bond towards Wikipédia Japanese woman

(contains several photographs)

External bonds

the official site
Sapporo Yukimatsuri news

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