By KAEDE SANO/ Staff Writer
February 4, 2023 at 18:45 JST
A snow sculpture of Hoheikan, a Sapporo hotel where members of the imperial family often stayed (Kengo Hiyoshi)
SAPPORO--The world-renowned Sapporo Snow Festival kicked off Feb. 4, drawing admiring visitors from around the world. It marked the first time since 2020 for the event to be held on-site.
This year, about 100 snow sculptures are featured, including five gigantic ones each in excess of 10 meters tall. They are on display at the main Odori Koen park venue in this city’s Chuo Ward.
The novel coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of the festival for the past two years, so the events were held online instead.
This year’s version did not provide food and drink booths, popular stops at past festivals, due to COVID-19 concerns.
Among the sculptures on display are ones of major league slugger and pitcher Shohei Ohtani and Tsuyoshi Shinjo, manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. The sculptures are illuminated at night.
The festival continues until Feb. 11.
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