The soldiers who build the snow giants

The Sapporo Snow Festival began modestly in 1950 with a few snow sculptures built by local high-school students in Odori Park. It grew quickly, and in 1955 the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force started to help build the large sculptures, according to Japan's land ministry and an article on the Nippon.com website.

The military's involvement expanded over the years. Reporting says that around the late 1950s thousands of personnel were involved, and that the work counts as a training exercise. In years with little local snow, snow is trucked in from elsewhere to feed the construction. The festival has run every year since 1950 except in 2021.

A second site was opened at an Ground Self-Defense Force camp in a nearby district in 1965. The festival's own timeline and the ministry's history page give details of how the event has changed; the numbers of participants vary between sources, so they should be checked against official festival figures before quoting.

If you visit, walk early on a weekday if you can. The scale is clearest from a short distance, in daylight, and the sculptures are lit at night. And remember that the festival is the work of hundreds of volunteers, soldiers and city staff in very cold conditions; stay behind barriers, and do not climb or lean on the sculptures.