Wakkanai Secondary Port Market [Wakkanai Fukuko Ichiba]

Wakkanai Fukukou Market 稚内副港市場

 

Wakkanai Sakhalin Hall - Russian ensemble -

 

Russian Ensemble show

 

 

Russian dance with Russian folk song

 

 

 

Old Japan (Early Showa period)

 

Old Japanese public phone &

 Old Japanese tabacco shop etc.

 

 

Old Japanese toys

 

 

Old Japanese barber & Old Japanese theater

 

 

Old Japanese fridge, Old Japanese washing machine,

Old Japanese TVs, Old Japanese Radios and Old Japanese fan

 

 

Episode of Wakkanai Fukuko Ichiba

Tomo&Chouchou went to Wakkanai Secondary Port Market [Japanese: Wakkanai Fukuko Ichiba; 稚内副港市場] by tour. There was a Russian show called "Russian Ensemble" at Wakkanai Sakhalin Hall [Japanese: Sakhalin-kan; サハリン館] on the ground floor. Russian people sang Russian folk songs. They also danced. We could experience Russian culture while we were in Wakkanai in Hokkaido, Japan. It was very friendly cultural event. We could feel the peace.

There was the area of Old Japan in Wakkanai Secondary Port Market. It was the atmosphere of Early Showa period (around 1926 - 1989). Tomo&Chouchou don't know such old shops and electric appliances. But we could understand how much Japan had developped. We felt like we were time-travelling. :-)  It was nostalgic.

There was the shopping area in Wakkanai Fukuko Ichiba. There were many local products such as seafoods and sweets. We can get both fresh and dried seafoods. Here is the good place to get Hokkaido souvenirs. Tomo&Chouchou bought dried seaweed (=dried kelp) because Rishiri kelp is very famous. 

Mainly we came to Wakkanai fukuko market for Russian folk ensemble show. It was the special moment for us to feel the history between Japan and Russia.

 

Tomo&Chouchou's advice for Wakkanai Fukuko Market

We can send via parcel delivery service if we buy a lot of things or heavy things in Wakkanai Fukuko market. It's very convenient. Especially if we buy something fresh such as crabs, we can send it to home by refrigerated shipping. It is very useful. Normally the percel will arrive to home (Japanese address) within 1 or 3 days. It will be up to where you live. In Japan, we can specify the arrival date and time.

About Early Showa period (1926-1989)

Japan had developped a lot after the World War Ⅱ. Especially Japan had developped from 1955 to 1973. This period is called the Japanese high economic miracle period [Japanese: 高度経済成長期]. First fridge and washing machine were made in Japan in 1930. First television was made in Japan in 1953. First radio was made in Japan between 1925 to 1928. Many new convenient things came up. People's life got better. There was the time of full of energy for Japan.

Information

Wakkanai Secondary Port Market / Wakkanai Fukuko Market

[稚内副港市場; Wakkanai Fukuko Ichiba or Wakkanai Fukukou Ichiba]

Address: 1-6-28 Minato Wakkanai Hokkaido 097-0021

Access: 3 minutes by car from Wakkanai JR station, 1 minutes on foot from Minato 2 chome bus stop (Soya bus), 20 minutes by car from Wakkanai airport

 

<event>

Russian ensemble at Wakkanai Sakhalin Hall 

[稚内サハリン館　ロシアンアンサンブル]

Free admission

Event time: 17-18h around February (in 2011 - 2020)

Russian folk song ensemble performance & dance

* Due to Covid-19, Russian ensemble has been cancelled since 2021. 

Relating articles

other spots in Wakkanai

- Lake Kutcharo

- Hotel Meguma

・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・

Travel Itinerary of Hokkaido Snow Festival tour Tomo&Chouchou joined

Travel agent：Club Tourism International Inc.
Date: Feb in 2016 (2 nights 3 days)

1st day: Arrive at Wakkanai airport　⇒　Scallop lunch at Wakkanai station which has northernmost railroad track　⇒　Snow activities such as snow rafting, snow mobile, snow tube at Soya Fureai Park (Japanese: Soya Fureai Koen, 宗谷ふれあい公園）　⇒　Visit Cape Sōya (Japanese: Sōya-Misaki, 宗谷岬), where is the northernmost point of Japan. Visit Drift Ice Hall too.　⇒　Watch Russian musical ensemble at Wakkanai Sakhalin Hall (Japanese: Wakkanai Sakhalin Kan, 稚内サハリン館) in Wakkanai Secondary Port Market (Japanese: Wakkanai Fukuko Ichiba, 稚内副港市場)　⇒　 Stay at Hotel Meguma in Wakkanai. Enjoy Wakkanai hot spring and Soya crab dinner course.

2nd day: Visit Lake Kutcharo (Japanese: Kutcharo-ko, クッチャロ湖) in Hamatombetsu (浜頓別).　⇒　Go to Cape Drift Ice / Cape Ryuhyo (Japanese: Ryuhyo-misaki, 流氷岬) in Monbetsu (紋別). Bord on the drift ice crusher "Garinko Ⅱ".　⇒　Stay at Sounkyo Kankou Hotel (層雲峡観光ホテル). Enjoy  41th Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival at night.

3rd day: Enjoy snow sculpture and ice sculpture of 67th Sapporo Snow Festival.　⇒　Eat Sapporo Ramen (Japanese:  ラーメン, which is a Japanese noodle soup) at New Chitose Airport Terminal (Japanese: Shin Chitose Kuko, 新千歳空港)  　⇒　Fly back to go home.

・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・

Travel review of Hokkaido Snow Festival group tour

Tomo & Chouchou had dreamed of traveling to the snow festival in Hokkaido. Our dream came true with this tour!

There are so many snow festivals in Hokkaido. Sapporo Snow Festival is the most famous one. With this tour, we could go to two festivals "Sapporo Snow Festival" and "Sounkyo Hyobaku Festival". Normally it costs a lot to travel to Hokkaido during snow festival season. With this group tour, we could travel at a relatively reasonable price. So we were very lucky. We could also visit the northernmost point of Japan and board the drift ice crusher. Even though we couldn't see the drift ice because 2016 was not so enough cold to see the drift ice, it was enjoyable to look for the drift ice. All the foods that we ate were good. We were really satisfied with this tour.

Hotel Meguma in Wakkanai, Hokkaido

Northernmost hotel in Japan "Hotel Meguma"

Crab dinner: Soya Kanizukushi Gozen; 宗谷カニづくし御膳

Horsehair crab [毛ガニ], Red king crab [タラバガニ], snow crab [ズワイガニ]

fireplace at Hotel Meguma lounge

Room of Hotel Meguma

Front door of Hotel Meguma

We took a walk around the hotel in the early morning.

Back street of the Hotel Meguma.

We climbed up small snow hill.

We could see the white Mt.Rishiri [Japanese: 利尻山; Rishiri-zan] far.

breakfast of Hotel Meguma

Episode of Hotel Meguma

Tomo&Chouchou joined Hokkaido group tour. On the first day, we traveled Wakkanai [Japanese: 稚内] where was northernmost landmark in Japan. We stayed at Hotel Meguma [Japanese: ホテルめぐま] in Wakkanai. To be honest, Tomo&Chouchou didn't expect to have great dinner. Because, normally, it's difficult to have great meals with group tour. However, it was a great surprise! When we arrived at the restaurant, we were so surprised to see such a wonderful meal. There were three types of crabs; horsehair crab, snow crab and red king crab. So many varieties. Full of local foods. We really enjoyed crab dinner menu [Japanese: 宗谷カニづくし御膳].The service and atmosphere at the restaurant of Hotel Meguma was nice. We could really enjoy dinner.

After the dinner, we enjoyed hotspring [温泉]. Unfortunatelly we cannot take a photo in the hotspring. Especially open-air bath, we enjoyed hotspring in the snow. bath. There was snow so it was cold. But the hotspring was hot. It was simply great. It is the great moment to enjoy hotspring in winter. There was the fireplace [暖炉] at the lounge in Hotel Meguma. So after taking a bath, we could be relaxed there. Hotel room were western style and nice. Beds were comfortable.

Next morning, Tomo&Chouchou decided to have a walk because we love snow. We walked around the hotel. We didn't go far. We went to the backstreet of Hotel Meguma. We found a small snow hill. We decided to approach and climb it up. It was enjoyable to walk on the snow and to make our footprints. It was very beautiful view with white snow. It was very quiet and refreshing. We could see the white snow mountain "Mt.Rishiri [Japanese: 利尻山]" far. We didn't expect to see such a big mountain. It was a lucky surprise. We felt it was the right decision to walk in the early morning as we could see the wonderful landscape. We could also take a photo at the front door of the hotel. Then we had breakfast. It was Japanese meal. It was good.

Hotel Meguma is the northernmost hotel in Japan. Foods are great. They use local foods. We could enjoy seafood. We were so satisfied with Hotel Meguma. Hotel Meguma gave us a great memory of our Hokkaido trip.

Information

Hotel Meguma   / ホテルめぐま

Address: 2-13-14 Koetoi, Wakkanai, Hokkaido[北海道稚内市声問2丁目13番14号]

Access: 5 minutes by car from Wakkanai airport

(cf. It takes 1 hour 50 minutes from Haneda airport to Wakkanai airport by plane.) 

・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・

Travel Itinerary of Hokkaido Snow Festival tour Tomo & Chouchou joined

Travel agent：Club Tourism International Inc.
Date: Feb in 2016 (2 nights 3 days)

1st day: Arrive at Wakkanai airport　⇒　Scallop lunch at Wakkanai station which has northernmost railroad track　⇒　Snow activities such as snow rafting, snow mobile, snow tube at Soya Fureai Park (Japanese: Soya Fureai Koen, 宗谷ふれあい公園）　⇒　Visit Cape Sōya (Japanese: Sōya-Misaki, 宗谷岬), where is the northernmost point of Japan. Visit Drift Ice Hall too.　⇒　Watch Russian musical ensemble at Wakkanai Sakhalin Hall (Japanese: Wakkanai Sakhalin Kan, 稚内サハリン館)　⇒　 Stay at Hotel Meguma in Wakkanai. Enjoy Wakkanai hot spring and Soya crab dinner course.

2nd day: Visit Lake Kutcharo (Japanese: Kutcharo-ko, クッチャロ湖) in Hamatombetsu (浜頓別).　⇒　Go to Cape Drift Ice / Cape Ryuhyo (Japanese: Ryuhyo-misaki, 流氷岬) in Monbetsu (紋別). Bord on the drift ice crusher "Garinko Ⅱ".　⇒　Stay at Sounkyo Kankou Hotel (層雲峡観光ホテル). Enjoy  41th Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival at night.

3rd day: Enjoy snow sculpture and ice sculpture of 67th Sapporo Snow Festival.　⇒　Eat Sapporo Ramen (Japanese:  ラーメン, which is a Japanese noodle soup) at New Chitose Airport Terminal (Japanese: Shin Chitose Kuko, 新千歳空港)  　⇒　Fly back to go home.

・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・

Travel review of Hokkaido Snow Festival group tour

Tomo & Chouchou had dreamed of traveling to the snow festival in Hokkaido. Our dream came true with this tour!

There are so many snow festivals in Hokkaido. Sapporo Snow Festival is the most famous one. With this tour, we could go to two festivals "Sapporo Snow Festival" and "Sounkyo Hyobaku Festival". Normally it costs a lot to travel to Hokkaido during snow festival season. With this group tour, we could travel at a relatively reasonable price. So we were very lucky. We could also visit the northernmost point of Japan and board the drift ice crusher. Even though we couldn't see the drift ice, 2016 was not so enough cold to see the drift ice, it was enjoyable to look for the drift ice. All the foods that we ate were good. We were really satisfied with this tour.

 

Relating article

sightseeing spot in Wakkanai

* Lake Kutcharo

* Wakkanai Secondary Port Market [Wakkanai Fukuko Ichiba] 

 

Lake Kutcharo in Hokkaido, Japan

 - Lake Kutcharo -

 

Lake Kutcharo [Japanese: クッチャロ湖] in Hamatombetsu.

Map around Lake Kutcharo (in Japanese)

Lake Kutcharo is in the North Okhotsk Prefectural Natural Park
[Japanese: 北オホーツク道立自然公園].

Lake Kutcharo was fully covered with snow.

It was the world of white!

Lake Kutcharo is designated by Ramsar Convention.

Hamatombetsu Lake Kutcharo Waterfowl Observatory [Japanese: クッチャロ湖水鳥観察館] was beside the lake.

The number of swan arrivals to Lake Kutcharo.

Taxidermy of Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)

[Japanese: オオハクチョウ; 大白鳥]

Information of swans.

Lake Kutcharo is the good spot to see the breeding time of swans. 

Taxidermy of eagle

Taxidermies of seals

Taxidermies of many animals living around Lake Kutcharo

Taxidermies of the brown bears (Ursus arctos) [Japanese: ヒグマ]

Episode of Lake Kutcharo

Tomo&Chouchou went to Lake Kutcharo [Japanese: クッチャロ湖] and Hamatombetsu Lake Kutcharo Waterfowl Observatory [Japanese: クッチャロ湖水鳥観察館] by group tour. When we visited there, it was the world of white! It was full of snow! Lake Kutcharo was fully covered with snow. We couldn't find any lake around. Without Lake Kutcharo signs, we could not have found it. We found the diploma of Ramsar Convention. We understood that Lake Kutcharo was designated by Ramsar Convention and it was protected. We could also understand that this area, North Okhotsk Prefectural Natural Park, is the wetland, and waterfowl habitat area.

We found the Hamatombetsu Lake Kutcharo Waterfowl Observatory beside the lake. We decided to enter there. Before entering there, it was written that 400 swans had arrived. Unfortunately winter is not the season to see swans, so we could not see any swans. It seems that tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus) [Japanese: コハクチョウ; 小白鳥] stop by Lake Kutcharo in spring and autumn. Especially spring is the best season to see the swans' breeding time. Two couple swans make heart shape together. It is called "Happy ring". We can see it in spring. Inside the observatory, we found many taxidermies such as Whooper swan, eagle, seals, brown bears, sea turtle, deer, fox, peregrine falcon [Japanese: ハヤブサ], Japanese buzzard (Buteo japonicus) [Japanese: ノスリ] and so on. They were so real. Sometimes scary. Anyway we could learn that what kind of spieces live around Lake Kutcharo.

We couldn't see the lake but we could enjoy the white world at Lake Kutcharo in winter. We could have the special time at Lake Kutcharo.

 

Information

Lake Kutcharo is designated by Ramsar Convention on July 6, 1989. Ramsar Convention is the international treaty on wetland conservation. It is known as the Convention on Wetlands. Official name is the "Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat". Lake Kutcharo is the third place designated by Ramsar Convention in Japan. 

 

Hamatombetsu Lake Kutcharo Waterfowl Observatory
クッチャロ湖水鳥観察館

Location: Kutcharo Lakeside
Address: Kutcharo Kohan, Hamatombetsu-cho, Esashi-gun, Hokkaido
[Japanese: 北海道枝幸郡浜頓別町クッチャロ湖畔]
Open: 9:00 - 17:00

・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・

Travel Itinerary of Hokkaido Snow Festival tour Tomo & Chouchou joined

Travel agent：Club Tourism International Inc.
Date: Feb in 2016 (2 nights 3 days)

1st day: Arrive at Wakkanai airport　⇒　Scallop lunch at Wakkanai station which has northernmost railroad track　⇒　Snow activities such as snow rafting, snow mobile, snow tube at Soya Fureai Park (Japanese: Soya Fureai Koen, 宗谷ふれあい公園）　⇒　Visit Cape Sōya (Japanese: Sōya-Misaki, 宗谷岬), where is the northernmost point of Japan. Visit Drift Ice Hall too.　⇒　Watch Russian musical ensemble at Wakkanai Sakhalin Hall (Japanese: Wakkanai Sakhalin Kan, 稚内サハリン館)　⇒　 Stay at Hotel Meguma in Wakkanai. Enjoy Wakkanai hot spring and Soya crab dinner course.

2nd day: Visit Lake Kutcharo (Japanese: Kutcharo-ko, クッチャロ湖) in Hamatombetsu (浜頓別).　⇒　Go to Cape Drift Ice / Cape Ryuhyo (Japanese: Ryuhyo-misaki, 流氷岬) in Monbetsu (紋別). Bord on the drift ice crusher "Garinko Ⅱ".　⇒　Stay at Sounkyo Kankou Hotel (層雲峡観光ホテル). Enjoy  41th Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival at night.

3rd day: Enjoy snow sculpture and ice sculpture of 67th Sapporo Snow Festival.　⇒　Eat Sapporo Ramen (Japanese:  ラーメン, which is a Japanese noodle soup) at New Chitose Airport Terminal (Japanese: Shin Chitose Kuko, 新千歳空港)  　⇒　Fly back to go home.

・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・

Travel review of Hokkaido Snow Festival group tour

Tomo & Chouchou had dreamed of traveling to the snow festival in Hokkaido. Our dream came true with this tour!

There are so many snow festivals in Hokkaido. Sapporo Snow Festival is the most famous one. With this tour, we could go to two festivals "Sapporo Snow Festival" and "Sounkyo Hyobaku Festival". Normally it costs a lot to travel to Hokkaido during snow festival season. With this group tour, we could travel at a relatively reasonable price. So we were very lucky. We could also visit the northernmost point of Japan and board the drift ice crusher. Even though we couldn't see the drift ice, 2016 was not so enough cold to see the drift ice, it was enjoyable to look for the drift ice. All the foods that we ate were good. We were really satisfied with this tour.

Relating article

* Hotel Meguma in Wakkanai : northernmost hotel in Japan

* Wakkanai Secondary Port Market [Wakkanai Fukuko Ichiba]

Sounkyo Hyobaku (Ice Waterfall) Festival in Hokkaido, Japan

41th Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival
Admission fee: 500 yen

On the way to go to the Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival 

(Japanese: Sounkyo Hyobaku Matsuri, 層雲峡氷瀑まつり） from the hotel.

Near the entrance of the festival. It was very fantastic!

Snow huts

Firework of Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival

It was such a beautiful moment. We forgot the coldness!

Ice sculpture of Salmons in the snow hut

Coins were embedded in the ice sculptures.

Ice sculpture of cute character in the snow hut

Ice sculpture of Jizō/Ojizō-sama in the snow hut

Ice sculpture of Mercy Goddess in the snow hut

 

↓

the other side of the river

 ↓

Inside an ice cave

 

There were so many icicles inside the ice cave when we looked up.

 Illumination inside the ice cave

Ice pub inside the ice cave

There was a big Sake barrel made in Asahikawa on the icy bar counter.

There was an icy stairs to go up to the roof of the ice cave. 

The view from the roof of the ice cave.

How fantastic!

This is the big main ice cave.

One of the entrance was shaped like a dragon.

 Shinto shrine torii (gate) of Hyobaku shrine

Icy egg inside the snow dome of Hyobaku shrine.

 Ice rock climbing

 

Snow tubing

 We can buy and est some snacks & hot drinks at the warm place.

icy river of Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival

Episode of Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival

First step to go to the Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival, you need to pass through icy stairs till the entrance. It is very slippery. Some people were falling down from the icy stairs while we were going down. Tomo & Chouchou succeeded to go down icy stairs and arrive at the entrance somehow. There were many snow huts near the entrance so we were about to visit. Then firework started. So we enjoyed the firework first, then we visited snow huts. Inside the snow huts, we could find interesting ice sculptures. You may find your favorite one. 

Next, we went to the other side of the river. We found a huge ice cave. We could enter inside the ice cave. Inside the ice cave was also lit up with many colors. We also found many icicles inside the cave. It was scary at the beginning. We felt they might drop on us.... But, actually, inside the cave, illumination was too beautiful to be afraid of that. We were eager to take photos of the beauty of illumination inside the cave. So we easily forgot our fear and coldness.

There was an ice pub. Unfortunately we couldn't drink there. It would be nicer and more enjoyable if we can really drink Sake in the ice pub!

Not only inside but also above the ice cave was very fantastic. It was amazing to look down all the colorful snow huts from the roof of the ice cave!

It was the first time for us to enjoy such an icy world in Japan! It was very exciting. Snow festival is more famous but actually ice festival is also super nice! We liked Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival a lot. Please enjoy such a fantastic ice festival !

 

Tomo & Chouchou's advice for the Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival

1)To go to the entrace, we must go down the icy stairs. It was very slippery and scary. Some people were falling down from the icy stairs. You had better wear non-slip shoes!

2)There are some attractions such as ice rock climbing, snow tubing. For family, especially for kids, it would be enjoyable to do.

3)If you feel easily cold, you can enter the store to warm up yourself. There is a stove inside the store. You can get some warm foods and hot drinks there.

Episode of Hotel in Sounkyo

Tomo & Chouchou thought we would stay at Hotel Taisetsu because the photo of that hotel was on the travel brochure and it looked very nice. However only our group of this tour, people of the same bus, had to stay at Sounkyo Kanko Hotel.

So we were a bit disappointed... however Sounkyo Kanko Horel was very close to the Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival. After 3 minutes walk, we could arrive there. So as a result, it was very convenient to walk on an icy road at night.

・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・

Travel Itinerary of Hokkaido Snow Festival tour Tomo & Chouchou joined

Travel agent：Club Tourism International Inc.
Date: Feb in 2016 (2 nights 3 days)

1st day: Arrive at Wakkanai airport　⇒　Scallop lunch at Wakkanai station which has northernmost railroad track　⇒　Snow activities such as snow rafting, snow mobile, snow tube at Soya Fureai Park (Japanese: Soya Fureai Koen, 宗谷ふれあい公園）　⇒　Visit Cape Sōya (Japanese: Sōya-Misaki, 宗谷岬), where is the northernmost point of Japan. Visit Drift Ice Hall too.　⇒　Watch Russian musical ensemble at Wakkanai Sakhalin Hall (Japanese: Wakkanai Sakhalin Kan, 稚内サハリン館)　⇒　 Stay at Hotel Meguma in Wakkanai. Enjoy Wakkanai hot spring and Soya crab dinner course.

2nd day: Visit Lake Kutcharo (Japanese: Kutcharo-ko, クッチャロ湖) in Hamatombetsu (浜頓別).　⇒　Go to Cape Drift Ice / Cape Ryuhyo (Japanese: Ryuhyo-misaki, 流氷岬) in Monbetsu (紋別). Bord on the drift ice crusher "Garinko Ⅱ".　⇒　Stay at Sounkyo Kankou Hotel (層雲峡観光ホテル). Enjoy  41th Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival at night.

3rd day: Enjoy snow sculpture and ice sculpture of 67th Sapporo Snow Festival.　⇒　Eat Sapporo Ramen (Japanese:  ラーメン, which is a Japanese noodle soup) at New Chitose Airport Terminal (Japanese: Shin Chitose Kuko, 新千歳空港)  　⇒　Fly back to go home.

・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・～・

Travel review of Hokkaido Snow Festival group tour

Tomo & Chouchou had dreamed of traveling to the snow festival in Hokkaido. Our dream came true with this tour!

There are so many snow festivals in Hokkaido. Sapporo Snow Festival is the most famous one. With this tour, we could go to two festivals "Sapporo Snow Festival" and "Sounkyo Hyobaku Festival". Normally it costs a lot to travel to Hokkaido during snow festival season. With this group tour, we could travel at a relatively reasonable price. So we were very lucky. We could also visit the northernmost point of Japan and board the drift ice crusher. Even though we couldn't see the drift ice, 2016 was not so enough cold to see the drift ice, it was enjoyable to look for the drift ice. All the foods that we ate were good. We were really satisfied with this tour.

Relating article
other winter festivals in the world

* Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, Japan

* Montreal Snow Festival, Canada

* Quebec Winter Carnival, Canada

* Winterlude & Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Canada


 

Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, Japan

67th Sapporo Snow Festival (February in 2016)

~ main venue ~

Ice sculpture of Hokkaido Shinkansen near the entrance

We could also see Sapporo TV tower.

There were many Yatais (=small food stand) in the snow festival area.

Tomo & Chouchou ate as follows;

Hotate-man (=scallop buns)

Ton-Chimaki

 (=steamed sticky rice with pork wrapped in bamboo leaf)

↓

 

～　Susukino venue　～

 

many ice sculptures were lined up in the middle of the car road

Ice sculpture embedded fish and crabs in

Ice sculpture of Ryugyu castle

 

↓

 

～　main venue　～

big snow sculpture "Shingeki no Kyojin (=Attack on Titan)"

of "STV area" where was the most popular area

Big ice sculpture of "Mainichi Ice Area"
"Queen's Head of Taiwan" & Pingxi District in Taiwan"

Big snow sculpture of "the Ruins of St.Paul's in Macau"

 in HSBC Macau area

 

Snow sculpture of Rugby player Goromaru

 

Episode of Sapporo Snow Festival

After 3 hours drive from the Sounkyo Kanko Hotel, our tour bus arrived in Sapporo. The bus stopped near Sapporo TV tower. Then we got off from the tour bus and walked to the Sapporo TV tower together. From that time, we had 3 hours free time for the snow festival. 

For Tomo & Chouchou, it was a dream to come to the snow festival in Hokkaido, so we were so thrilled to approach to the main venue.

First we saw ice sculptures of Hokkaido Shinkansen near the entrance of main venue. Shinkansen is the Japanese high-speed railway.  2016 is the opening year of Hokkaido Shinkansen. So it was memorial ice sculpture for 2016.

There were many small food stands, which is called "Yatai in Japanese, in the main venue of Sapporo Snow Festival. Tomo & Chouchou ate Hotate-man (=scallop buns) and Ton-Chimaki (=steamed sticky rice with pork wrapped in bamboo leaf).

We were also interested in Susukino area where we can see many ice sculptures.
So we stopped visiting main area for a while, then headed to Susukino area. We were very surprised to see that all the ice sculptures lined up in the middle of the car road! We quickly saw the ice sculptures of Susukino area, then we went back to the main area.

After going back to main area, we saw many snow statues. Especially, a huge snow sculpture at STV area, Shingeki no Kyojin in 2016, was amazing!
We were so surprised to see such a huge snow sculpture! We also found a big ice sculpture at Mainichi Ice Area, Queen's Head of Taiwan & Pingxi District in Taiwan (where we fry lanterns). We found another snow sculpture in HSBC Macau area, the Ruins of St.Paul's in Macau, China. These are 3 big sculptures of Sapporo Snow Festival in 2016.

Afterwards we saw many snow sculptures. They were mostly the people who became famous in 2016 or popular animation characters such as rugby player Goromaru, Naoki Matayoshi who got Akutagawa award, a comedian Tonikaku Akarui Yasumura, Minions, Star Wars, Snoopy, and Funasshi and so on.
Personally we liked a family snow sculpture which had very Japanese taste.

As a result, 3 hours free time was short to see all the things of the Sapporo snow festival. At the end, we had to run to be in meeting time. Even though, we wanted to see the Sapporo Clock Tower. So we ran to the Sapporo Clock Tower and quickly took some photos.

Travel agency, Club tourism, gave us two tickets which we could take a rest in the Sapporo TV Tower. However we had no time to take a rest there. 
Anyway we could enjoyed Sapporo Snow Festiva a lot.

Tomo & Chouchou's advice for Sapporo Snow Festival

There are so many things to see and many local foods to taste. It was very crowded. So you had better quickly decide where to go and what to eat.  However if you prefer not to hurry, you had better spend one full day for Sapporo Snow Festival from the afternoon to the night. 

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Travel Itinerary of Hokkaido Snow Festival tour Tomo&Chouchou joined

Travel agent：Club Tourism International Inc.
Date: Feb in 2016 (2 nights 3 days)

1st day: Arrive at Wakkanai airport　⇒　Scallop lunch at Wakkanai station which has northernmost railroad track　⇒　Snow activities such as snow rafting, snow mobile, snow tube at Soya Fureai Park (Japanese: Soya Fureai Koen, 宗谷ふれあい公園）　⇒　Visit Cape Sōya (Japanese: Sōya-Misaki, 宗谷岬), where is the northernmost point of Japan. Visit Drift Ice Hall too.　⇒　Watch Russian musical ensemble at Wakkanai Sakhalin Hall (Japanese: Wakkanai Sakhalin Kan, 稚内サハリン館)　⇒　 Stay at Hotel Meguma in Wakkanai. Enjoy Wakkanai hot spring and Soya crab dinner course.

2nd day: Visit Lake Kutcharo (Japanese: Kutcharo-ko, クッチャロ湖) in Hamatombetsu (浜頓別).　⇒　Go to Cape Drift Ice / Cape Ryuhyo (Japanese: Ryuhyo-misaki, 流氷岬) in Monbetsu (紋別). Bord on the drift ice crusher "Garinko Ⅱ".　⇒　Stay at Sounkyo Kankou Hotel (層雲峡観光ホテル). Enjoy 41th Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival at night.

3rd day: Enjoy snow sculpture and ice sculpture of 67th Sapporo Snow Festival.　⇒　Eat Sapporo Ramen (Japanese:  ラーメン, which is a Japanese noodle soup) at New Chitose Airport Terminal (Japanese: Shin Chitose Kuko, 新千歳空港)  　⇒　Fly back to go home.

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Travel review of Hokkaido Snow Festival group tour

Tomo & Chouchou had dreamed of traveling to the snow festival in Hokkaido. Our dream came true with this tour!

There are so many snow festivals in Hokkaido. Sapporo Snow Festival is the most famous one. With this tour, we could go to two festivals "Sapporo Snow Festival" and "Sounkyo Hyobaku Festival". Normally it costs a lot to travel to Hokkaido during snow festival season. With this group tour, we could travel at a relatively reasonable price. So we were very lucky. We could also visit the northernmost point of Japan and board the drift ice crusher. Even though we couldn't see the drift ice, 2016 was not so enough cold to see the drift ice, it was enjoyable to look for the drift ice. All the foods that we ate were good. We were really satisfied with this tour.

Relating article
other winter festivals in the world

* Sounkyo Hyobaku (Ice Waterfall) Festival in Hokkaido, Japan

* Montreal Snow Festival, Canada

* Quebec Winter Carnival, Canada

* Winterlude & Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Canada