Feb. 2001, Snow Sculpting in Japan. This is my first International Snow Sculpture Competition. Three person teams of Snow Sculptors from the world over united to produce a field of art. Each piece a permanent expression of the artists in a temporary form.

Having packed just the night before, I rose early to prepare for the flight from Vancouver International. The impact of the long trip to Nagoya Japan would be lessened by an upgrade to Business Class thanks to the good people at Air Canada . Nagoya, the transfer point to Sapporo and the island of Hokkaido, was cool, but the remaining sun of the afternoon continued to give it's warmth during the few hour layover. The flight to Sapporo in preparation of the 28th Sapporo Snow Statue Contest , was very bumpy which I found to be a lot of fun, not unlike a roller coaster, the extreme heat on the commuter plane and the free drinks from Business class however, caught up with my teammates and they both were ill.

Sapporo greeted us with clouded night sky, -7 C, lots of snow, and more fresh new stuff falling. After having traveled for about 24 hours it was time to get to the hotel, The temperature felt quite mild, which was refreshing as the Japanese have an affinity for indoor heat. We hauled our luggage over to the Hotel Kosei Nenkin where we were welcomed by the staff and given our rooms for a most welcome rest.

Day two is the official arrival date and we spot other teams arriving throughout the day. During breakfast we are greeted by, (Othniel "ART" Oomittuk and Charlie, Charlie does have a last name but everyone knows Charlie) two of the members of Sapporo's sister city Portland Oregon. After breakfast, our chat with Art and Charlie, it was off to explore Odori Park the site of our sculptures, and some of the other attractions of Sapporo. On our walk about we saw a most peculiar site.

The Self-Defence Force was putting the finishing touches on their snow sculptures in preparation for the 52nd Sapporo Snow Festival .

These sculptures were not little snow men, but giant well crafted sculpture, towering ten to twenty meters above the ground, and there are a lot of them. We left these imposing structures and explored more of the sites of Sapporo's downtown.

The Susukkino district was just setting up for the ice festival. Here beautiful carved ice sculptures are presented from the 6th to the 12th. Susukino is an entertainment area, full of clubs and restaurants. I came upon one such club the "King Xmhu". It's facade is sculpted of concrete. I found out later that this is the place where we were to have the Sayonara Party. A couple hours of this exploring stuff and it was back to the hotel to rest and prepare for the welcoming party that evening.

The welcoming party was at the Sapporo Grand Hotel , and it was truly grand. The teams and organizers were introduced to each other and we went over the rules and other paper oriented things before heading to the ballroom for a celebration of the upcoming event. We were greeted with the Miss Sapporo's, traditional Japanese entertainment, and demonstrations. For our eating pleasure we enjoyed, Kobe beef, sushi, sashimi, sake, beer, and many other delectable treats that were presented. They really do take special care of guests.

The next day it was time to get down to sculpting. After the opening ceremony at the International Snow Statue site the teams went off to their 3 by 3 by 3.5 meter blocks, with various tools in hand and started their sculptures.

After a grueling day of snow removal, relieved by the occasional Sapporo Beer , and Udon prepared by the Sapporo Grand Hotel and turning our square block into a rectangle we headed to the concert hall adjacent to the hotel Kosei Nenkin to be greeted by the people of Sapporo, some of whom we had seen lined up outside on our way to the sculpting site that morning. After our introduction we paraded back out to the site to complete the day while the crowd was treated to video footage of each team member and there impressions of Japan so far. Nine o clock came and it was time to hit the sheets to be ready to for the next day and some actual sculpting.

Ha actual sculpting no, nada, nhet. There was still more snow to remove. Good thing for the big saw. This tool measures about 2 meters. It is an old crosscut saw once used in logging, and most everyone there had never seen a saw so big. When it was brought into action the cameras would come out from all over. The "Big Saw" was a media sensation.

Sometime around mid afternoon some sculpting started. We didn't start at the top where most every other sculptor had started, and still a lot of snow had to be removed. We started in the middle on features that were somewhat delicate and really not suited to having the hard compacted snow from above falling on them. If only we had been in the southern hemisphere were gravity is reversed.

We started the next day sculpting the piece, which involved removing a lot more snow, and carving more delicate detail into the face near the bottom of the piece. I'm still baffled by this.

There was still a lot of work to do, much of it near the top which was increasingly harder to get up to do work on without damaging the work near completion on the bottom.We did however manage to pull together the piece at the top by working on it from the back and side, but it took a lot longer and had to be corrected the next day in proper light and face on.

This was the last day of sculpting and all the teams were busy putting the finishing touches on their sculptures. We managed to finish a little early and relaxed in the warming house for most of the evening before heading back to the hotel to rest up for closing ceremonies the next day.

Finishing was a most welcome occurrence, now just a little tension while the judging takes place and we head up on to the stage for the awards presentation. Another nice day with bright sun and crisp temperatures. We managed to place forth in the medals and came away with a trophy I believe.

As we prepared in the hotel for the evenings Sayonara party at "King Xmhu". The sky closed over and started to dump, upon the sculptures, and everything else for that matter, after an excellent week of sculpting weather, mass quantities of snow. It would be an excellent party. Lots of good food and drink. A night of dancing and farewells. Most of us would be leaving the hotel the next morning. Many teams would be heading home, we would be moving to another hotel to meet up with some of the other teams also going to the next competition in Nayoro.

We had four days off and relaxing we would go. This was the first time on public transit. We purchased a day ticket and when finally through the turnstile machine we headed off on the subway to the bus that would take us to Jozankei Spa. About 1.5 hours from downtown Sapporo.

The Japanese love hot springs, doesn't everyone, because they believe that hot-spring bathing is not only beneficial for many kinds of diseases, but also assists in digestion and helps make the skin smoother and healthier. The primary benefit though is the hot-springs ability to relieve stress.

That evening when back in Sapporo we decided to try out a Raman Shop for dinner. The restaurant on the lower floor (basement) of a government office building was recommended by two women we had met on the way up to Jozankei Spa. They were pen pals, one visiting from Australia, the other from near Tokyo. They met years earlier at the Olympics in Nagano. The location was a little hard to find but we managed to get to it alright. Ordering was simple just point to a spot on the menu, figure out what it is when it comes to the table.

After an excellent dining experience and a little Chinese sake from our neighboring table, it was time to get back to the hotel for tomorrows early start to the spa at Noboribetsu.

This area is an active volcano site, the Infernal Valley where steamy water erupts, constantly gushing heated mineral waters from within which eventually flow out to the Pacific Ocean near Uchiura Bay. On the way to the ocean however diversion takes place and the hotels and resorts in the area have gorgeous indoor and outdoor baths.

After a short hike around the paths through snow covered gardens and to viewing platforms, providing views of the lakes, steam vents, and springs. It was time for the baths.

The Spa closest to the spring source seemed to be the best choice. The many baths there to choose from featured varied temperatures as well there were things like the mixing of hot and cold waters. Walking paths alternated textures and water level from between ankle to knee deep. You walked a circuit alternating between a hot path and the cold path. It tingles on the feet and ankles. There was also the total submersion thing. You get really hot, either in the hot baths or in a sauna. Then you immediatly submerge yourself in cold water. Surprising thing, shrinkage does not occur. This is cool.

A water massage seat, a single pour of water from a 30ml spout, falling 4 to 5 meters. You sit below the pour on the seat and the weight of the falling water massages you.

Then the outdoor pool. The setting is beautiful and the beer service to the pool side is exemplarily. A nice cool beer in the hot tub in the cold outdoors. What could be finer, the foam freezing if you didn't keep up. After all this I needed a day off.

Random exploration. I like to just go and explore, I seem to find a great many cool things when I do such an activity and this time was no different. Taking in a small section of the vast Sapporo underground system of stores, malls, and transportation connections.

I also found the Sapporo City Photo Library, sponsored by Konica. There were a number of books loaded with photo's of Sapporo as well as many display gallery's. One gallery featured the 1930's here I saw images of some of the landmark sites I was now visiting as well as life scenes of Sapporo one of which was a group playing hockey on a frozen ice rink.

The Sapporo City Photo Library is located in a mall called Sapporo Factory .

This is the former Sapporo Brewery Works Factory, a large atrium has been added to it and the older building reconditioned to create a unique mall setting and layout. Sculpture is created using pieces from the former brewery.

One more day left to enjoy Sapporo, sculpted street lights and a walk around the park.

It was now time to prepare for the trip to Nayoro. A bus had been chartered, which was of great relief as the volume of stuff that ten teams of sculptors have to move around is quite cumbersome and moving it around in a busy station like Sapporo Station was not a challenge any of us really wanted to attempt.

The bus trip however was going to be a little longer then first anticipated. Some of the Hokkaido Expressway had been closed off by blowing snow conditions. So it was to the back roads, through the towns on the route to Nayoro. The few stops we had were welcomed as there was no bathroom on the bus.

These stops also gave me an opportunity to collect some more stamps, this was something I picked up doing in Sapporo and was glad that I could continue the practise through out the country. It also seemed to catch on with some of the other sculptors.

Nayoro is farming country. They grow a great deal of food for Japan. The people are warm and friendly, and greeted us with snow at the welcoming ceremonies at the sculpture site. We would enjoy a little fresh snow everyday.

Our hotel The Grand Maple Hotel was located just a short distance from the Sculpture Park, and featured that new fun thing we had just begun to enjoy. The Spa.

A little later at the formal reception we were welcomed with traditional music played on a "Ko to". Well the music was not so traditional as they played "Yesterday" followed by "Sounds of Silence".

This was followed by much entertainment, food, and toasting with Sake, Sapporo Beer and Red Wine. Sometime in there the blocks were chosen by draw. Now it was time to party.

A smaller group of us went to another establishment, were we continued to eat and drink. Representatives from each country present were reciting a song from there country. My Canadian compatriot and I could not think of anything together so I read a piece from my book.

"As I travel up the 99, I am allowed the opportunity to briefly visit the passing landscape. Some altered by the hand of man, some altered by nature.Great deep cuts have been struck into the hard granite. Water propelled down these channels continues to take souvenirs of it's journey, the flow pushes down until it becomes one with a greater body of water the journey's souvenirs are deposited and moved continually to insure them no rest."

I ended the evening with a couple songs at the karaoke bar. There was sculpting the next day.