Hokkaido Snow and Ice Festivals

by Brianin Hokkaido, Japanon Posted on

During the last week of January and first week of February I was in Hawaii for work attending a project management class.  After flying back to Japan I repacked my bags and flew out again the next day for a short trip to Sapporo to catch the very popular snow festival.  Seems to be one of, if not, the biggest event on Hokkaido and I couldn’t catch it the year prior due to my Singapore trip.  The snow festival in Sapporo consists of three different sites.  I also went to the Ice Festival at Lake Shikotsu and the Snow Light Path Festival in Otaru… both equally as nice as the main event in Sapporo.  This was another one of those much anticipated trips as it seems the best of everything in Japan (at least for food) comes from Hokkaido so of course I wanted to eat a lot too.

Day 1

Waiting for my plane, thinking the sky was nice
Since there is no train that goes to Lake Shikotsu, and it is closer to the airport, I decided to cross this one off the list first. Also, there is a bus that goes directly to the lake from the airport which was nice to know... so with my luggage still in hand, I caught the bus before checking into the hotel.
Once there, I went to the visitor center looking for some kind of luggage locker. They didn't have one, but I noticed they do hold bags for visitors in the office area up until closing time so that's what I did... they were really nice about it. Pays to be observant when travelling too!
Really just a small block or two of shops/restaurants with some nearby inns people can stay at
Seems it had just snowed a bit recently... overall, a really peaceful place and not so crowded.
You can easily walk down to the lake
Such nice weather this day, how lucky!
I assume this can be a summer attraction as well.
Not as cold as I was expecting it to be, though I was pretty well layered.
Entrance to the ice park. Basically just a section of the parking lot where they build this small amusement park sort of place full of ice.
Real fish haha
Just to get a sense of the size here
Ice slides for the kids
Good view overlooking the ice park with the lake and mountains in the background.
A little ice gallery
Walked around the small town just a bit more waiting for the bus
I got hungry so had some local salmon for lunch. It was very good and apparently one of the better known foods from this area. Just a small shop, I was the only one in there but seemed like a good family bunch working there.
Looking back at the lake from the town area
Caught the bus back to the airport area, then from there I finally got on the train for Sapporo. The hotel was the Mitsui Garden Hotel just a block away from Sapporo Station... really convenient location which is what I usually go for when looking for rooms.
Walking past the main site Odori park but was saving this for another day. Since it was the biggest of the sites, I figured it would take more time to see.
Main intersection where the Susukino Site began. Susukino site is probably the smallest of the main three sites and is filled more with ice sculptures rather than snow sculptures.
Long rows of ice sculptures. Stretches a few blocks down.
Free games
I can't figure out how they made this one...
The details are pretty awesome
Shout out to Hawaii!
When I was done at the Susukino site, I just HAD to have to Hokkaido ramen so I went to this ramen alley that I had read about online... I was certain I'd find at least one place in here that looked good...
And find I did! But had to wait in line for about half an hour.....
Once inside, I ordered delux everything! haha, for a moment I almost thought I couldn't finish it all... and the people staring at me probably thought the same, but finish and finish strong I did!
Last minute idea was to go up the Sapporo TV tower to get a night view of the city and Odori site
Nice lights at night
And here looking down the main Odori site of the snow festival... you can see it stretches about ten blocks I think...
From what I could tell, this one snow wall (more so than sculpture haha) was the main one of the main event, based on the series Attack on Titan... I guess a popular comic turned live movie recently.
Started to snow just a little at night.. you can kind of see a little of it in this picture
This sculpture was celebrating the then soon-to-be but now open shinkansen route finally connecting the main island of Honshu to Hokkaido. Was a long day so I called it a night after this.

Day 2

Starting the second day off with Mr. Donut! Always wanted to try their mocha donuts so I finally gave it a try... hhmm.. not bad... but the plus side here I think was that they gave free coffee refills. The thing with most coffee shops in Japan is that the servings are always so small! Free refill meant a lot to me lol
Sapporo Station
Day 2 I had planned on going to the second of three snow festival sites, Tsudome...
From the last station on the line, there is a bus right at the exit that will take you to the site for ¥100... beats walking in the snow although it's not that far away.
This is a more amusing family friendly site and these little snowmen set the tone for that right away haha
Tons of kids everywhere... the kind of place that wouldn't allow solo adults to wander around depending on where you are back in the States... I did feel like some of the employees there were watching me a little closer than usual but could've just been in my head.
Just overall a very fun looking place for kids, like if I had my own I would definitely take them here...
The community dome
Towing sleds
Bamboo skis
Inside the dome... not much happening here but there was food
There were also some small amusement rides but not very crowded...
Because it's much more fun outside in the snow
More slides and snowball throwing range
Second biggest of the three snow festival sites
Ok, so there was something for adults too, carve out your own beer mug
Just about sums it up hehe
Still around midday so I just had to go to the Sapporo Beer Factory right?
Just a nice setting
Went to the visitor center to arrange reservation time for my lunch at one of the restaurants they have there (there are a few)...
They give bags to put your things in so the smoke won't stink up your stuff... how considerate
Inside the main restaurant... there wasn't much of a wait time at all
The set
"Ghengis Khan" is a popular BBQ style in Sapporo and I would eat this a couple of times during the trip... soooo good in cold weather.
After getting my fill of meat and beer, I went over to the museum side.
Not knowing how to read most of the signs and exhibits, I just breezed through on my own. There was also a group from Hawaii waiting in the lobby... I don't know what it is but you can just tell when they are from Hawaii.... made small talk for a couple minutes with one of the guys in the group. He was so confused what I was doing there by myself.
Ahh, the best part of the museum probably... beer sampling.
Have to pay to try (unlike the Kirin Factory in Yokohama) so I went with the set... delicious.
Inside the old Sapporo factory which is a mall now?
I believe this is looking down Soseigawa Dori while walking back to the hotel area.
At the former Hokkaido Government office
Next was the train ride out to Otaru. It's right next to the waters edge so it was a nice scenic train ride half of the way.
Otaru Station
I had a hard time finding directions online to where the actual sites here were for some reason. Walk straight down the street from the station to the canal and you'll be right there... the actual light path at the canal is only one or two blocks long... I kind of expected there to be more but it was still really nice.
All sorts of romantic things....
oh look, wedding photos... already I felt uncomfortable taking this picture but it just reminds me how rude some other people can be when it comes to photography etiquette I guess... complete strangers were asking this couple to pose longer just so they can get their own picture... that when it was freezing outside and it's their wedding day.... uugghhhhh this and selfie sticks...
With the sun setting the lights show brighter
Just one block down along the canal walking north and total solitude... interesting
I had mentioned before that while I was walking I set up this picture of myself to capture a moment where I felt such clarity and peace in my life... walking alone in the snow in a far off foreign place at night, along with everything else in my life at the time just kind of rushed through me all at once.
So there were supposed to be two separate sites in Otaru for seeing light paths... one was the canal. The other was supposed to be at some old train tracks so naturally I went to where the old train tracks seemed to be and..... nothing. As I mentioned earlier, I had a hard time getting detailed directions online. So after some walking around, I found some guys working at a gas station and actually asked for directions in nihongo... proud moment hehe Just enough to where they understood me and pointed me in the right direction.
After all that walking, I remembered that I had passed a train looking thing made of snow on the main road leading to canal and sure enough, that was the other site. So instead of going back there... I went back to the canal area to find something to eat.
By then it was snowing pretty heavily
More ghengis khan, with some sushi, crab miso soup, and sake
Yes, love is everywhere here... lonely travelers beware! haha
Slightly different scene at night
After all that walking, finally made it to the second train track site (it was by the main road from the station all along)
These were particularly nice... but makes me wonder how they maintain these during the entire festival
All sorts of random things line the streets
This site stretches for a few blocks... was a bit difficult to walk in some areas when it got icy
The path is supposed to follow some old section of railway tracks however with all the snow it's hard to see that.
These nice ladies were giving out free mochi, which was perfect and so nice on a cold night.
Lighting candles again
After a long day, headed back to Sapporo to call it a night.

Final Day 3

The final day was saved for just the main snow festival site, Odori park, in Sapporo and of course whatever food I could fit into my stomach before the night flight out.
It snowed a lot overnight
But the giant snowman was happy to get a fresh coat haha
Pretty icy... wouldn't like driving in this weather
But they still do
In the beginning of the week I remember seeing on the news that this year the sculptures were melting early due to the warmer weather this year, but with the snowfall the workers were trying to clean off the sculptures.
Many food stalls line the streets but they weren't quite open yet.
One of my favorite shows growing up
The snow fell heavily off and on throughout the day
Poor bicycles
End of the park, nude sculptures don't mind the cold
Closer look at the main sculpture
And the rest of the pictures are just food! Everything was sooo good, Hokkaido lived up to my expectations with food. Cheese tart!
Very satisfying lunch back at the station, different kind of miso soup... the seaweed was very sea-tasting, maybe some won't like.. I did.
Kind of like an eggy custard type of soup... didn't realize the set meal came with this already so I got double! haha
So soothing in the cold weather.
Open for business!
Uni. I would say that my very first experience with Uni in Hawaii was horrible... but since then it has always been good... I'm a fan now (in limited doses).
Oh... this thing.... best, hot drink, ever. I'll just let you use your imagination rather than describe this one.
YUM.
More ramen, can't get enough.
Until next time Hokkaido! My next trip will probably cover the eastern side of the island... stay tuned for more.

Coming up next will be Taiwan and Spring Flower Festivals in Japan.  Also, maybe a short entry about my recent visit to the Kirin Beer Factory in Yokohama.

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