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）?

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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!

36th LAKE SHIKOTSU ICE FESTIVAL （2014千歳・支笏湖 氷濤まつり）| Mizu no uta （水の謌）

We went to the 36th LAKE SHIKOTSU ICE FESTIVAL （2014千歳・支笏湖 氷濤まつり） today.

Look at Lake Shikotsu!
How beautiful it is!

Let's go to the festival site!
Because ice objects are made of lake water, which is blessed with minerals, the tunnel looks light blue! Amazing, isn't it?

It was very cold today.
When we went there, the temperature there was -10C!! Just for reference, the lowest one today was -20C!!!! Wow! Wow! Wow!

First, we enjoyed "Ice Falls （アイスフォールズ）"↓
My guests from Hawaii were so excited to see water running from the top!

Let's enter "Moss Cave （苔の洞門）"↓

Tada!!!
See??? It looks like a real moss cave!!! Pine leaves are used for the art work.

At the end of the cave, kokanee salmon are decorated like an aquarium↓

We are so impressed with "Big Mountain （ビッグマウインテン）"! Can you imagine local people not professional artists create these ice sculpture???

Cool!

Let's climb the Blue Chateau （ブルーシャトー）"!

We can enjoy the whole picture of the festival site!!!

How exciting it is!!! Of course, we enjoyed the "Big Slope （ビッグスロープ）" like children!!

The festival site has a shinto shrine, too!!! When you go to the inside,

you will find the offertory box, but......

visitors don't use it. They put coins on the ice directly! Hahaha!

Last but not least, we visited "Mizu no Uta （水の謌）" for desserts!

Their cakes are all delicious. Among them,

"Tarumae san syu （たるまえ山シュー）", puff creams, are the most popular! Yummy x 2!!!

I also recommend this dessert. Do you have any idea what it is? I'll open the lid.

It looks like a pudding, but it is not a normal pudding!!

Voila!
This is "Miso Pudding （みそプリン）"!!!
I'm so happy that my guests also love the desserts!

■Where is "Mizu no Uta （水の謌）"?

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!

65th SAPPORO SNOW FESTIVAL （さっぽろ雪まつり）

The 65th SAPPORO SNOW FESTIVAL （さっぽろ雪まつり） has just started today (Feb. 5th-11th), and I checked it for a tour from tomorrow.

There are several booths serving hot drinks and food free of charge! I'm sure my guests will love it!

I walked from 8 chome to 2 chome along Odori Park （大通公園）, a main venue of the festival.

8 chome
■TOMB OF ITMAD-UD DAULA (India)
If you are interested in Indian food, please enjoy Indian food stalls in this block!

■Sultan Abdul Samad Building
As I love Malaysia, I tries Malaysian food, too!

Look at this booth↓

I love Mie goreng very much!

6 chome
■Hokkaido Winter Food Park
How attempting the food court is!

Among a lot of booths, I chose this Betsukai stall, because I've stayed Betsukai （別海） for one month as an interpreter.

Do you have any idea what kind of burger it is?

Voila!
This is ..............

Scallop Burger （別海ジャンボホタテバーガー）↓
How huge the scallop is! Yummy x 2!!!

5 chome
■Winter Sports Paradise, Hokkaido!
Winter Olympics in Sochi is around the corner. I hope Team Japan will get a lot of medals there!

4 chome
■Traditional and Modern Taiwan
I really love Taiwanese food, and looked for their food stalls, but there are NO food booths here!!! WHY???? Hahaha!

3 chome
■Shiroi Koibito Park Air Jump

I was so lucky to see athletes practicing snowboarding here!

Wow! Wow! Wow!

As I also snowboard, I really enjoyed it!

I'll be back at night!!

Look at the smoking space↓
It is also made of ice!! Interesting!!

2 chome
■Palace of the Heart

It is very cold these days (the highest temperature today is -4C......)
When you come to the festival, please wear a thick jacket!

p.s.
I'll go around several festivals throughout Hokkaido for the next four days with my tour guests, and update pics in each one. Please enjoy virtual festivals through my blog!)

■Where is Odori Park, a main venue of Sapporo Snow Festival?

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!