Sapporo Snow Festival: From Humble Beginnings to Global Fame

Local high school students hard at work on a snow sculpture in 1950.

Kuma (Bear): A sculpture from the first Sapporo Snow Festival

Shōten (The Ascension), the first snow sculpture of its size, in 1953.

Self Defense Force Troops at the Sapporo Snow Festival.

Snow Sculptures and TV Mast (1963).

Thailand’s entry in the International Snow Sculpture Contest (1989).

Sculpture of well-known Thai landmark Chakri Maha Prasat (2007). (© HBC)

Relics of Egypt (2008). (© HBC)

Sculpture of well-known South Korean landmark Sungnyemun (2009). (© HBC)

Projection Mapping at Sapporo Snow Festival (2013).