Come for the fire-breathing dragon vs. Dragoon action, stay for the iconic victory fanfare.
Sapporo Snow Festival
Towering snow sculptures pay homage to Final Fantasy and Osamu Tezuka’s beloved anime characters.
Fans of Star Wars, Final Fantasy and Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen have fallen in love with this year’s breathtaking giant displays.
Missing out on the 67th Sapporo Snow Festival? Check out some of the snow sculptures that have been popular on Twitter!
It’s less than a month till the Snow Miku 2016 festival! And even more fans will be delighted this year, as Miku teams up with μ’s from Love Live!
As sad as we are to say it, the 66th Annual Sapporo Snow Festival has now come to a close. In case you missed our coverage this year, this is when people from around the world come the snowy city of Sapporo, Hokkaido to create massive and gorgeous works of art out of ice and snow.
However, a lesser-known festival has been spreading around Twitter recently. It’s the unofficial Sapporo Demolition Festival, where excavators come in and mercilessly rip apart these massive and gorgeous works of art. While it doesn’t have the same international drawing power of the Snow Festival, many people have been on hand at the Demolition Festivals past and present to take plenty of video and images of the fun.
Last week, we took a sneak peek at the upcoming Sapporo Snow Festival by checking out an icy rendering of an idol trio from hit anime Love Live! Freaked out as we were by their unfinished yet crazed expressions, it turns out Umi, Honoka, and Kotori aren’t the most intimidating characters showing up at this year’s event.
That title goes to the massive snow sculpture of fallen Jedi Darth Vader, who rolled into the largest city in Hokkaido with the sort of backup that’d you’d expect from the Supreme Commander of the Empire’s space fleet.
The key difference between being an idol singer and a pop diva is warmth. Even if you’ve got perfect pitch and unshakable rhythm, if you want to succeed as an idol, you still need a heart-melting smile. Really, as long as you’ve got the smile, idol fans will even cut you a lot of slack on not having the other two.
So it’s a little unusual to gaze upon this trio of anime idols and feel a chill run down your spine, and not just because they’re made of snow.
The annual Sapporo Snow Festival held in Japan’s northernmost prefecture has been delighting tourists and locals for over six decades. Each year, artists from around the world are invited to show off their talents constructing enormous structures out of ice and snow.
To commemorate the release of the seventh installment of the Star Wars series, The Walt Disney Company has collaborated with festival officials to design what looks to be the most epic large-scale snow sculpture yet, featuring enormous snow versions of Darth Vader, three Storm Troopers, a TIE fighter, and the Death Star.
Last year we brought you a firsthand account of the 2013 Sapporo Snow Festival, with more images of snow and ice sculptures than you can get your tongue stuck to. This year, we’re sad to say we couldn’t make it out to the annual event up in Japan’s northernmost prefecture, so we’ve been living vicariously through Twitter users. Some of the images we’ve seen are too good not to share, so we decided to give you a little taste of the snow festival through the following gallery of images from Twitter.
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Tokyo’s most terrifying advertisement is hiding in plain sight in busiest part of the city【Video】
U.S. Marines perform Japan’s hottest dance craze, share video through official account【Video】
Japanese kimono parka combines traditional fashion with modern streetwear
Thighs of Autumn: Japan’s number-one thigh photographer’s new exhibit has over 1,000 legs【Photos】
Japanese supermarket’s recruitment ad is so stringent, it’s probably looking for a robot
Blast from the past: cosplayer’s retro otaku outfit hits nostalgic notes with netizens
Awesome Japanese rice porridge bread is just about the easiest thing to make in the world【Photos】
TeamLab Planets: Walk up a waterfall and catch koi fish at new digital art museum in Tokyo
Cosplay at the pool with new fairytale swimming costumes from Japan
Japanese gamer clears entire Puyo Puyo screen in a single 47 chain combo【Video】
Weekly
Japan’s number-one cosplayer draws an incredible crowd as she steals the show at Comiket【Photos】
Swiss otaku says he’s moving to Japan after customs officials confiscate his 66-pound manga haul
Dragon Ball’s Lord Beerus shows up at mortal’s house, lowly humans beware!【Cat cosplay】
Solo-traveling Japanese woman gets romantic pep talk from Hawaii immigration officer
Master tempura chef in Hamamatsu uses his bare hands to cook with boiling oil【Video】
Japanese Internet sad to see the word “chikan” becoming commonly used in English- Awesome Japanese rice porridge bread is just about the easiest thing to make in the world【Photos】
Comiket attendee finds a beautiful handmade anime bag, is surprised to discover its artist
Mysterious Japanese woman gives one million yen in cash to man she’s never met, then disappears
Tokyo too hot for you? It’s already snowing in Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island【Photos】
Monthly
Depressed Japanese gamer brightens his days by giving himself a log-in bonus for his real life
Video of Japanese airport baggage handlers’ amazing service fills rest of the world with jealousy
Aspiring Canadian cosplayer living in Tokyo arrested for immigration fraud sham marriage
Japan’s record-setting heat wave is hot enough to melt anime figure ankles
Busty waitresses, breast-shaped ramen draw crowds to new anime-themed restaurant in Tokyo【Photos】
“The boobs are important,” anime director’s feedback notes remind animators
Buddhist priest at Japanese temple lodging goes viral for rude responses to tourist’s bad reviews
Japanese deliveryman delivers beating and justice to knife-wielding criminal in Tokyo【Video】- Japan’s number-one cosplayer draws an incredible crowd as she steals the show at Comiket【Photos】
What would Sailor Moon be like if the heroines’ sizes matched their planets? Fan chart shows us
Yearly
Japanese netizens show love for “English Toast” which is neither English nor Toast
Drinking party breaks out on Tokyo Station platform as Shinkansen delay strands travelers- Depressed Japanese gamer brightens his days by giving himself a log-in bonus for his real life
- Video of Japanese airport baggage handlers’ amazing service fills rest of the world with jealousy
Shibuya stylist transforms nerdy-looking man into handsome guy with a trendy makeover【Video】
What does “Konnichiwa” really mean? Understanding Japanese greetings
Idol group AKB48 sells 2.5 million copies of new CD, bags full of them end up in trash days later
This is what a 10,000-yen (US$92) Tokyo bento boxed lunch looks like【Taste test】- Aspiring Canadian cosplayer living in Tokyo arrested for immigration fraud sham marriage
- Japan’s record-setting heat wave is hot enough to melt anime figure ankles
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Blast from the past: cosplayer’s retro otaku outfit hits nostalgic notes with netizens
Awesome Japanese rice porridge bread is just about the easiest thing to make in the world【Photos】
TeamLab Planets: Walk up a waterfall and catch koi fish at new digital art museum in Tokyo
Cosplay at the pool with new fairytale swimming costumes from Japan
Japanese gamer clears entire Puyo Puyo screen in a single 47 chain combo【Video】
Survey reveals the top reasons why married Japanese people don’t want to go home during Obon
Solo-traveling Japanese woman gets romantic pep talk from Hawaii immigration officer
Show off your love for Ponyo and Totoro’s Catbus with these Studio Ghibli baseball jackets
What’s in a name? The 10 most common surnames in Japan (and their meanings)
Master tempura chef in Hamamatsu uses his bare hands to cook with boiling oil【Video】
Special melon and cheese-flavored Kit Kat now available, but only at selected airports!
Japanese women reveal how far they’ve gone in “stalking” a guy they like in survey
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