16th Otaru Snow Light Path Festival （小樽雪あかりの路）

I went to the 16th Otaru Snow Light Path Festival （小樽雪あかりの路） with my tour guests from Hawaii.

When we arrived at Otaru Canal （小樽運河）, one of the main venues of the festival, it was not very dark, but we could enjoy the scenery to get darker and darker at the nightfall.

I love huge snow and ice sculpture at the Sapporo Snow Festival （さっぽろ雪まつり）, of course, but I also love...............

cute and lovely snow objects that volunteer workers make like this↓

Candles in the objects are lit up every night by volunteer workers.

See??
There are candles in each object!

Look at the pressed flowers on the ice candles!! How beautiful they are!

The objects are displayed along the canal, and we really enjoyed all of them..........

The darker it is, the more beautiful objects look!!!

Look at the face!!!
Although it was very cold (-15C), we enjoyed walking along the canal while taking pictures of unique objects!

The ice lanterns with maple leaves are one of my favorite art works here!! They look professional!!

Hokkaido remains me of Blakiston's fish owl↓, one of the most revered God for Ainu people, our indigenous people here.

How romantic the canal is!!

A lot of tourists took pictures with the heart-shaped object near Aasakusa Bridge （浅草橋）.

Heart objects are scattered in the venue.....

I'll be back this festival next year!!

We had a wonderful time in Otaru.

The festival was held from Feb. 7th to 16th.

■Where is the Otaru Canal （小樽運河）?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!

39th Sounkyo Hot Springs Ice Fall Festival （第39回層雲峡温泉氷瀑まつり）

We went to the "39th Sounkyo Hot Springs Ice Fall Festival （第39回層雲峡温泉氷瀑まつり）" the other days.

The temperature here was -14C!!!! But it's worth coming here!!

The venue along Ishikari River （石狩川） is about 10,000㎡.

It's so fantastic!!!

I took a picture of British Castle and Tower Bridge, the main ice sculptures this year, from the ice tunnel!

We also visited "Hyobaku Shrine （氷瀑神社）" in the venue↓

Not again!!!!
Tourists don't use the offertory box, and put coins on the ice directly!!! Hahaha!

Look at the icicles on the ceiling!!! They put coins on the top of the icicles, too!! Wow! Wow! Wow! But how?????

The slopes for tubing were also lit up!! We enjoyed the winter activity from the bottom of our heart!!

Let's enter the main ice sculpture!

It is like a maze inside, and

we managed to find the exit on time.

The fireworks displays have started!!!

The festival venue is the best place to see fireworks displays although it is freezing outside.....

We were so excited!!!

I'm so happy my guests were enjoying the local festival!!!

We returned to the festival site the next day during the day time.

The sculpture is light blue, and I like it!!

We visited each igloo. Depending on the sponsor, the decoration inside is different! 

The scenery from the ice tunnel during the day time is like this. Which do you prefer, the view at night, or during the day time? Or both??? Hahaha!!

We visited the shrine again and said a prayer.........

We easily found the exit this time, of course!!!

As it was freezing, I enjoyed hot milk......

When I looked at a person behind me, he was drinking sake!!! Wow! Wow! Wow!

We had a wonderful time in Sounkyo （層雲峡）.

■Where is Sounkyo （層雲峡）?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Ginga & Ryusei Waterfalls （銀河・流星の滝）| Ice Climbing | Daisetsuzan National Park

Sounkyo is a hot spring resort nestled in the Soun Gorge （層雲峡） of the Daisetsuzan National Park （大雪山国立公園）.
This national park has two famous waterfalls; Ginga Waterfall (銀河の滝)(120m), literally "Galaxy Waterfalls", which is a series of thin, silvery rivulets cascading down the mountainside, and Ryusei Waterfall (流星の滝)(90m), literally "Shooting Star Waterfalls", which is a powerful fall seemingly bursting out of solid rock.

First, we went to Ryusei waterfall. No No No!! This is Ryusei ice fall!!! Amazing, isn't it?

Next we walked along Ishikari River （石狩川） to go to the wife waterfall.

We've arrived at Ginga Waterfall. Wow! Wow! Wow!

Can you find four people on the ice fall????

They are enjoying ice climbing!!! How exciting!!

 Water seems running down below the thick ice.....

I hope I will challenge ice climbing next time!!!

(If you are interested in the twin waterfalls in different seasons, please refer to my other post→★)

■Where are Ginga Waterfall & Ryusei Waterfall?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!

55th Asahikawa Winter Festival （旭川冬まつり）

I went to the "55th Asahikawa Winter Festival （旭川冬まつり）" with my tour guests from Hawaii.
The main snow statue this year is "Transformers （トランスフォーマー）", 20m high and 130m wide, one of the biggest snow statues in the world!

The venue is not too big and too small. I love this festival!

 Well, well, well, I'll show you some of my favorite sections.

The main snow statue has 100-meter slides on the side.
One of them is a straight one↓ and

the other one is a curved one like this↓
We really enjoyed it!!!

Look at the stage! Akira Nishikino （スター★錦野旦） was a main guest the day. Wow! Wow! Wow!

This is one of the popular corners in the festival. You can make a mini snowman.

So cute, aren't they?

Among middle sized snow statues, I love

this one （対決！ゆるキャラ サッカーワールドカップ）↓ and

Monsters, Inc.↓
How elaborate they are!

I also love the small statues!

JR Mini Train （JRミニ列車） is popular among kids.

Of course free of charge!!!

I enjoyed tubing several times. Yoo-hoo!!!
(Of course free of charge!!!)

Do you know snowscoot? It is the fusion of riding a bike and snowboarding. As I love snow sports, I was so excited!!
(Of course free of charge!!)

Snow rifting is also recommendable! How thrilling the sharp turns are!!!

Last but not least, we enjoyed Winter Marchais （冬マルシェ）, a food corner.

My guests and I had a wonderful time in Asahikawal!!

The festival is held from Feb. 6th to 11th.

■Where is the venue of the 55th Asahikawa Winter Festival （旭川冬まつり）?

View Larger Map

■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!