Hideki Matsui
Hideki Matsui who is number 55 for the New York Yankees was the star of the headline snow sculpture for the 55th Annual Sapporo Snow Festival.
Hideki Matsui Sculpture at Night
This night time image with the people in the foreground shows the scale of the sculpture. It was snowing when I took this picture. I had to attach an umbrella from the 100 yen store to my tripod to shelter the camera from the falling show!
Resting Snowman Covered with Snow Kids
Snow Festival Fashion
Like elsewhere in the world... fashion prevailed over common sense. I was cold wearing my snow suit!
Triceratops Dinosaur
Children Snow Sculpture
Pooh Bear
That's one cold pot of honey!
"Cold" Bill Clinton
Snow Mermaid
View from TV Tower
This view shows the scale of some of the snow sculptures compared to the surrounding buildings.
Makomani Site
A Japanese Self-Defense Force Base in Makomani was the venue for the huge sculptures. 2005 was the last year this site was used for the Sapporo Snow Festival.
Large Scale Snow Sculptures
Large Sculpture with Slide
The lines of kids waiting for the slides on the bigger sculptures are long.
Ice Slide
The ice slides are VERY fast!
Hello Kitty!
Taj Mahal
There was a stage in front of the Show Taj Mahal where the Japanese Self Defense Force Band entertained the crowd.
Taj Mahal Close-up
The intracasies of the snow carving are clear here. The workmanship is nearly as impressive as the real
Taj Mahal.
Japanese House Replica
Mini-Snowman Competition
Many people partake in the snowman building competition.
Young Competitor
This child was building a little snowman with his parents help. The metal bowl is used as a form for half of the snowman base.
City Hall of Hanover, Germany
This huge ice sculpture is a good reproduction of the intracacies of the City Hall in Hanover, Germany.
Susukino Site
This area with the smaller ice sculptures is in the median of a busy street in the shopping and entertainment district of Sapporo.
Ramen Samurai
That's a pile of rame noodles in front of the samurai ice sculpture.
Fighting Roosters
The advertising billboard provides good contrast. It's as if the women are watching the fight :-).
Race Horse
Ice Peacock
The intracacies of the thin carved ice are apparent here.
Japanese Ice Dolls
Shapely Ice
Well Endowed Ice!
Parthenon of Ice
This snow sculpture of the Parthenon was in honor of Athens, Greece hosting the Summer Olympics later in 2004.
Hanover City Hall
The colored lights made this impressive sculpture specatular at night. Some of the freshly fallen snow is visible on top.
Jurrasic Park
The size of the dinosaurs is evident here.
All Lit Up!
Colored Ice
The lights on this ice sculpture changed in sync with the rythmic music.
Suggested Japan Travel Guides
(Order Through Amazon Books - Click on the book name)
Insight Pocket Guide Tokyo
The Insight Pocket Guide series of books is my favorite for short stays at any destination. The book highlights the must see destinations in full day and half day itineraries. This includes detailed maps and suggested walking routes. This guide is a must have especially for a short visit.
Eyewitness guides provide great detail on sights and history. It's a great reference especially with it's fantastic three dimensional cutaway views of sites and monuments to point out all the details. It makes finding things much easier than merely having a bunch of words and a map.
As with most Lonely Planet guides, this Japan edition are invaluable resources for planning your journey. They offer you the most up-to-date information about where to go and where to aviod, how to get there and get around, where to stay at a reasonable rate. The guides provide everything you'll need to know for a rewarding visit.
This is the only guide I've found that provides details for traveling in Northern Japan. Most other guides concentrate only on the major cities.
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