WARM WINTER WOES FOR JAPAN FESTIVAL

Tokyo, Jan. 11: Organisers of Japan’s famed Sapporo snow festival are being forced to truck in an unprecedented amount of extra powder to build their signature sculptures after an unseasonably warm winter. The festival, which opens in three weeks in the capital of Hokkaido in northern Japan, is a major draw for the region, attracting more than 2.7 million visitors last year.

The main attraction is a display of around 200 snow and ice sculptures built by local residents, officials and volunteers, with help from Japan’s armed forces. But organisers have been forced to lay on a record number of trucks to bring in snow from Sapporo’s suburbs, and also from towns as far as 30 kilometres away, Fumiya Onoue, an official at Sapporo’s tourism office told AFP on Friday. “We are trying hard,” he said. The task is complicated by the need for pristine samples, perfect for sculpting. “The snow should be free of dirt, stones or snow-melting agents because they could cause the breakdown of sculptures,” he said.

Accumulated snowfall in the city since the start of November has been less than half of an average year.