There is a fun event to experience snow in Hokkaido. Asahikawa Winter Festival, Asahikawa Fuyu Matsuri in Japanese, the second biggest winter festival in Japan, and it is after Sapporo Snow Festival.
Asahikawa is the second biggest city in Hokkaido. It is famous for Asahikawa Ramen and Asahiyama Zoo, one of the best known zoos in Japan. It also has the coldest temperature record of Japan. (-41°C). There are much more snow in Asahikawa compare to Sapporo. If you want to enjoy snow, why don’t you visit Asahikawa?
Asahikawa Winter Festival is usually held in the second week of February. About 1 million people visit the festival each year. It is about three times as many as the size of Asahikawa’s population. You can imagine how big the event is.
The festival is held in the center area of the city. At the festival, you can see snow sculptures and ice sculptures. There are two sites; one is in Heiwa-dori Pedestrian Street and the main site is called as Asahibashi site which is near Asahibasi Bridge.
On the pedestrian street, about 50~60 ice sculptures are exhibited for Ice Sculpture World Contest which is held at the same time. The ice sculptures are more attractive in evening as they are illuminated. You must be impressed by the delicate handworks of ice sculptures.
At the main site, there are snow sculptures. The main huge snow sculpture is built as a stage for music and performances. The size of the sculpture is wider than 100 meters and height is usually about 20 meters. Theme of the main sculpture is different each year. It was Korean fortress in 1994 and was on the book of Guinness World Record as the largest snow sculpture in the world. At main site, you can also enjoy snow activities. There is a huge snow slide and a huge snow maze. You can also have fun with horse-drawn sleighs and snow mobile ride.
At the festival, Winter Marchais is also held and you can eat many kinds of local food like Asahikawa Ramen and hot sake. Snow igloos are built for eating space to stay warm.
During the Asahikawa Snow Festival, other winter events are also held in Asahikawa. There are some spots where you can see snow light up in evening. And Asahiyama Zoo is open until 8 p.m. during the festival. You can take special guided tours by zoo staffs and the zoo is also illuminated in evening. I really recommend going to Asahiyama zoo in winter, because many animals there is originally live in cold area. You can see them more in near natural environment.
If you are interested in both Sapporo Snow festival and Asahikawa Winter Festival, you can visit both in a same trip. Both festivals are usually held in the same period. And Asahikawa is only 80 minutes away from Sapporo by a train. If you have enough time to stay, it is good idea to see both festival and enjoy winter of Hokkaido.
In winter, it is very cold especially in Asahikawa, but the snow is very beautiful and enjoyable. I hope someday in near future, you will have a chance to see it!
All photos from official website of Asahikawa city
http://www.city.asahikawa.hokkaido.jp/
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