I'm in Kamikawa between Daisetsuzan National Park and Asahikawa with my tour guests. "Hokkaido Ice Pavilion" in the town is the first museum in the world to provide the chilling experience of Hokkaido through a whole year!  Look at the snow man in front of the facility! In North America and Europe, they make their snowmen using three snow balls. However, in Japan, snowmen are made using only two spheres. One for the head and one for the body. Maybe Japanese people have shorter lower bodies? Hahahaha:-)  Before entering the facility, we do a short experiment; painting the pic on special paper, which reacts the temperature. If it's hot, the colors are gone and if it's cold, the colors appear again. We were already excited, thinking how the color would change inside of the facility!!!   Let's enter the pavilion! Don't forget this detergent bottle! We'll do the second experiment in the -20C room!  Going through the entrance area,  first enjoy the hexagonal labyrinth! Why hexagonal? Because the snow crystal is hexagonal!  After the fun corner, we prepared for the -20C room. Please wear a winter coat here!  Are you ready to go to the winter world in Hokkaido????  Let's take a wet towel to do the third experiment!  Voila!!!! Welcome to the winter world!!  The inside of the Ice Pavilion is kept at a constant temperature of -20C. Displayed inside are numerous icicles, many of them that took over ten years to form.  Look at the wet towel. It stands in such a law temperature!  Let's go down stairs. The steps are so slippery. Watch your steps!!  We enjoyed making bobbles from the soapy water.  It is very cold here that you can "catch" the bobbles!!! How interesting!!!   My tour guests were so impressed with the icicles!  We, local people, make a snow hut for fun in the winter time like this↓ It looks like an igloo, doesn't it? But actually the ways to make the hut and igloos are different.  How cute the snowmen!! This is one of the popular photo spots!  This is the most exciting corner!!! The highlight of this attraction is a spot where you can experience the mind-blowing temperature of -41C, the lowest temperature ever recorded in Japanese history. -41C!!!!!!! Do you want to try it? (Sure!!!)  We were so excited in the room!! I'm sorry this pic is not good enough to see tiny crystals in the air, but you can see a diamond dust phenomena in the special room; ground-level cloud composed of tiny ice crystals with a temperature well below freezing  Do you know cliones, which live under drift ice? You can observe the creatures in the special tank.  Hokkaido is surrounded by three kinds of ocean, one of which is the Sea of Okhotsk. During the middle of the winter, the sea is covered with ice! We called the creatures "sea angels". The angels live under the ice.  After the tour, we enjoyed free hot tea service. Look at the pics! Some of the visitors took their pics in the -41C room like this↓ Unbelievable! They are almost naked!!!  I love this pic↓ They are the youngest challengers in the coldest room!!!  Why don't you enjoy Hokkaido winter in this facility? Let's have fun!! I recommend this facility especially for people from southern countries!!! Just for reference, there is a ice cream stand in front of the Hokkaido Ice Pavilion↓  and they sell very delicious ice cream!!!  I really recommend "Shiroi-Koibito soft ice cream （白い恋人ソフトクリ―ム）", one of whose ingredient is the same white chocolate for Shiro Koibito Chocolate cookies （白い恋人）.  ■Where is Hokkaido Ice Pavilion （北海道アイスパビリオン）? |
■Tour guide information■
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