Near the city of Chitose in Hokkaido is Lake Shikotsu,
which is said to have the clearest water in all of Japan. In
the town of Shikotsu Kohan, the Lake Shikotsu Ice
Festival begins at the end of January and continues on to
mid-February. The festival area is made with the water
from the lake. The ice sculptures, when bathed in the
sunlight, have a color that people refer to as shikotsu
blue. The locals use sprinklers with the lake’s water to
make all the ice attractions which vary in size and shape.
During the day, it’s beautiful to see the color of the water,
but at night all the ice sculptures are illuminated in
different colors. It gives the feeling of a different place
from what you would see during the day time.
Even though the festival is much smaller than the
Sapporo Snow Festival, it has attractions unique to Lake
Shikotsu. When entering into the festivities you first pass
through a tunnel. There you are greeted by the different
ice attractions. There is an area where you can go down
an ice slide or be surrounded by a giant wall of frozen
lake water. Walking around you can enter tunnels of
mazes where you can either see frozen pine branches
hanging from all over the place, illuminated by a green
light to make it look like a moss cave or see salmon
encased in ice like an aquarium. There is a children’s ice
skating rink where they can use just their shoes to slide
around as well as a horse rides for the children. Then at
night there is a fireworks show every weekend and
holiday for everyone to enjoy. The Lake Shikotsu Ice
Festival is free to enter, but the food will cost you money.
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