Last additions - Iolani Palace at Sapporo Snow Festival イオラニ宮殿@さっぽろ雪まつり |

My YouTube video of Iolani Palace at the Sapporo Snow Matsuri in 2010.Jun 06, 2010
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Makomanai site: Snow slides with Arare-chan, anime character popular in 1982.Feb 13, 2010
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Kinkakuji Gold Pavilion in Kyoto, made of snow.Feb 13, 2010
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Back in 1982, the second festival site was at Makomanai, a short subway ride. They had more sculptures and ice slides for kids.Feb 13, 2010
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Odori Park from the TV Tower. On the left and right sides, you can see the huge crowd of people blackening the pathways. You can see the Iolani Palace sculpture.Feb 13, 2010
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Nandaro (What's this?), sculpture made by a local English school. It's a dog with a hammer head. Whoever thought of this must have been a crazy guy. Feb 13, 2010
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Feb 13, 2010
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Odori Park from the TV Tower. Feb 13, 2010
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John LennonFeb 13, 2010
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Hong Kong snow sculpture.Feb 13, 2010
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Feb 13, 2010
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The USA team sculpted the American Circus.Feb 13, 2010
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The large citizens' area feature smaller snow sculptures created by city citizens. Snow blocks are provided.Feb 13, 2010
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The international section of sculptures.Feb 13, 2010
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I think this was the lion dog at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka.Feb 13, 2010
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This is a lion dog at a shrine in Fukuoka.Feb 13, 2010
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A Shinto shrine made of ice.Feb 13, 2010
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Ice sculpture of a church in Helsinki, FinlandFeb 13, 2010
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Building an ice sculpture.Feb 13, 2010
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Icy foundation for the ice sculpture.Feb 13, 2010
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They haul numerous blocks of ice.Feb 13, 2010
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The Sapporo Snow Festival also features at least one giant ice sculpture. The foundation is made of ice.Feb 13, 2010
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Each giant snow sculpture becomes a pile of snowy rubble.Feb 13, 2010
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Even the veins look realistic. Pterodactyl made of snow.Feb 13, 2010
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Day after the snow festival: Destroy all dinosaurs!Feb 13, 2010
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Dinnosaurs lit up at night.Feb 13, 2010
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Hello baby!Feb 13, 2010
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T-rex twins.Feb 13, 2010
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BrontosaurusFeb 13, 2010
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Looking mean.Feb 13, 2010
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Dinosaur snow sculpture at 1982 Sapporo Snow Festival.Feb 13, 2010
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Incredible dinosaur snow sculptures. I can tell you, this was really awesome.Feb 13, 2010
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Putting on the finishing touches on the sculpture.Feb 13, 2010
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Shaping the pterodactylFeb 13, 2010
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Shaping up very well.Feb 13, 2010
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Head of T-RexFeb 13, 2010
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Pterodactyl wingsFeb 13, 2010
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Filling the mold for a tall neck of a dinosaur.Feb 13, 2010
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Guess what this part will be.Feb 13, 2010
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The reinforcement beams are covered with snow. A crane is used to carry the snow to high places.Feb 13, 2010
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They install wooden beams serving to reinforce the snow structures.Feb 13, 2010
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Destroying Iolani Palace made of snow.Feb 13, 2010
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Now see how another giant snow sculpture is built. It's the same process. A giant box is filled with snow.Feb 13, 2010
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The day after the snow festival ends, all the sculptures are promptly destroyed for safety reasons. With sadness, I watched it being destroyed. You can see the reinforcing wooden beams inside.Feb 13, 2010
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Iolani Palace in snow, lit up at nightFeb 13, 2010
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This snow sculpture of Iolani Palace was larger and more detailed than the ice sculpture of the palace built in Feb. 2010.Feb 13, 2010
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The statue of King Kamehameha did not come out that well, but I was happy to see it nonetheless. He was the king who unified Hawaii while the different islands were still ruled by different chiefs. Feb 13, 2010
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The Iolani Palace was built in Feb. 1982 to commemorate direct flights between Sapporo and Honolulu (since discontinued).Feb 13, 2010
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Iolani Palace stage event. This photo was published in a book called "The Companies We Keep 2," published in Hawaii by Bob Sigall in Jan. 2008.This photo was also featured on Hawaii's TV talk show "Nighttime with Andy Bumatai." See the segment at YouTube here.Feb 13, 2010
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Done and almost like the real thing. The Iolani Palace is in Honolulu, Hawaii, originally built by King David Kalakaua in the 19th century when Hawaii was still an independent kingdom. It is now a major tourist attraction.This photo was published in a book called "The Companies We Keep 2," published in Hawaii by Bob Sigall in Jan. 2008. The book is a compilation of various tidbits and trivia about Hawaii (my home state).
This photo was also featured on Hawaii's TV talk show "Nighttime with Andy Bumatai." See the segment at YouTube here.Feb 13, 2010
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As the days pass, their progress becomes ever apparent as the building becomes more and more familiar.Feb 13, 2010
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They even included a now statue of King Kamehameha, the king who unified the Hawaiian islands. Iolani Palace actually does not have a statue of King Kamehameha. But there is a statue of him across the street from the actual palace.Feb 13, 2010
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A drawing of Iolani Palace helps the carvers to carve the sculpture accurately.Feb 13, 2010
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The facade is shaped...Feb 13, 2010
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You can't be afraid of heights while working on these giant sculptures.Feb 13, 2010
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They take off the mold's wood paneling and start carving the huge block of snow. Scaffolding on all sides, almost like constructing a real building.Feb 13, 2010
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Japan's Self-Defense ForcesFeb 13, 2010
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They continue filling the giant box with snow. They are making Iolani Palace out of snow.Feb 13, 2010
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Filling up the mold...Feb 13, 2010
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The local Self-Defense Forces build the giant snow sculptures. Power shovel piles up the snow inside a rectangular mold or box made of wood.Feb 13, 2010
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Seeing these naked guys dancing on ice in front of Iolani Palace made my day. It was my festival climax before I had to leave to catch my 8:50 pm flight back to Tokyo.Feb 13, 2010
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Now some photos of the 1982 Sapporo Snow Festival. This was when they built Iolani Palace out of snow (not ice). These are army trucks hauling in snow to the Odori Park site in early Jan.Feb 13, 2010
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Very lively group.Feb 13, 2010
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They kept jumping up.Feb 13, 2010
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This yosakoi soran group was from Hokkaido University.Feb 13, 2010
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Notice how the colored lighting varied between dark orange and white lighting.Feb 13, 2010
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On the final night of the snow festival, they had yosakoi soran groups perform. They turned out to be the entertainment climax in front of Iolani Palace.Feb 13, 2010
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All they had to do is wear something Hawaiian and it would've been perfect. But of course, nobody thought of that.Feb 13, 2010
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Even though I was seeing all this entertainment totally unrelated to Hawaii, I have to say that the icy Iolani Palace made a great backdrop for these performers.Feb 13, 2010
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Sure it's cold to perform here. But look at these girls in shorts. They weren't shivering. This is another local wannabe Hokkaido girl group called "Cream."Feb 13, 2010
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And no one performed hula or anything Hawaiian in front of this Iolani Palace ice sculpture. It was sad and a wasted opportunity. They dance the hula everywhere in Japan except in front of an Iolani Palace sculpture?? Does that make sense to you?Feb 13, 2010
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As I was watching all this entertainment, how I wished there would be hula dancers too. Iolani Palace, being the home of King David Kalakaua who promoted hula in Hawaii, is a symbol of the hula movement. Feb 13, 2010
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Para-para dancerFeb 13, 2010
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A trio of girls perform the para-para dance.Feb 13, 2010
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Another boy group called B-Luck.Feb 13, 2010
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Other entertainment included amateur rock bands.Feb 13, 2010
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Rear view. HVB should round up the Hawaii folks living in Japan to help them promote Hawaii. Especially now, with the Internet, blogging, and word-of-mouth being so important for PR. But us guys in Japan haven't heard one peep from HVB.Feb 13, 2010
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ハワイPRの絶好のチャンスを完全に無視、逃がす。2百万人の来場者へのPRがパー。HPにもまったく掲載なし。Feb 13, 2010
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Look how beautiful this Iolani Palace ice sculpture is. I was red-faced not only from the cold, but also that no one from Hawaii did anything here.Feb 13, 2010
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No Hawaii events/entertainment in front of the Iolani Palace ice sculpture at the 2010 Sapporo Snow Festival. Hula is so popular in Japan, and no one danced hula in front of Iolani Palace in Sapporo??Feb 13, 2010
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Get in touch with people from Hawaii living in Sapporo/Hokkaido. They would volunteer to pass out Hawaii brochures or maybe even perform hula on the icy stage.Feb 13, 2010
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Hawaii needs more tourists to visit, especially the Japanese market. Why isn't HVB here promoting Hawaii with Iolani Palace in ice? This was a golden opportunity to promote Hawaii and NOBODY was doing it.Feb 13, 2010
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2 million people visit the Sapporo Snow Festival, many from China and Korea. Many of them would love to be in warm Hawaii.Feb 13, 2010
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I just CANNOT BELIEVE that HVB's English and Japanese Web sites neva even mention the Iolani Palace at this year's Sapporo Snow Festival.Feb 13, 2010
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It was very impressive and made my trip to Sapporo worthwhile. The lingering question remained: Where was the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau??? Why weren't they here passing out Hawaii PR brochures?Feb 13, 2010
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In the late afternoon, they start to light up the sculptures. Feb 13, 2010
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Iolani Palace ice sculpture lit up at night. The sculptures are lit up nightly till 10 pm. Ice sculptures in particular become very beautiful when lit at night due to their translucence.Feb 13, 2010
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The color lighting scheme also varies slightly. The sculpture is basically backlit with green lights in the middle and orange lights on the sides. At the same time, blue lights shine on the front of the sculpture.Feb 13, 2010
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Girls in Hokkaido look healthy, thanks to Hokkaido's clean environment, wide-open spaces, and good food.Feb 13, 2010
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北海道美人Feb 13, 2010
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They should be cheerleaders.Feb 13, 2010
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I could only wonder if these girls knew the significance of the sculpture they were performing in front of.Feb 13, 2010
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They turned out to be very lively. When you're dressed this lightly, it's best to move a lot to keep warm in freezing temperatures.Feb 13, 2010
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This is a local Hokkaido group dressed as school girls calling themselves Moegi-iro Jogakuin. もえぎ色女学院Feb 13, 2010
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Now for some entertainment in front of the Iolani Palace ice sculpture as the crowd waits.Feb 13, 2010
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Unfortunately, there was no sign in English explaining the Iolani Palace ice sculpture. I looked at this list of supporters and sponsors and found no one from Hawaii listed.おい、ハワイ州観光局はまったくいないぞ。Feb 13, 2010
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Like the other big sculptures, various free entertainment was held on a stage in front of the Iolani Palace sculpture. This was the entertainment schedule. I was very disappointed to find nothing Hawaiian.Feb 13, 2010
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Rear view of the Iolani Palace ice sculpture. Scaffolding propped up colored lights.Feb 13, 2010
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The Iolani Palace ice sculpture had a slim profile. This is a side view.Feb 13, 2010
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Facing the Iolani Palace sculpture were food stalls such as this German almond food stall. I couldn't comprehend why there weren't any Hawaii-related stalls instead. How about selling macadamia nuts or having a Hawaii Visitors Bureau booth??Feb 13, 2010
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The ice sculpture was built by over 250 members of the Japan Ice Sculpture Association. Most of the 250 were from the Sapporo chapter working as chefs at Sapporo area hotels. In Japan, ice sculptures are often featured at high-priced buffets, etc.Feb 13, 2010
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This was not the first time Iolani Palace was at the Sapporo Snow Festival. It was also featured in Feb. 1982 when it was made of snow (photos below).Feb 13, 2010
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Today, Iolani Palace is a major tourist attraction. Guided tours allow you to see the rooms inside, including the throne room and the small bedroom where Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last monarch, was held prisoner by Westerners who overthrew her. Feb 13, 2010
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The Iolani Palace is Hawaii's most famous building in Honolulu, Oahu. It is America's one and only former royal palace. Built in 1882 by King David Kalakaua as his residence. It had electricity installed, which was rare at the time.Feb 13, 2010
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It took about 2 weeks to build Iolani Palace out of ice. They started building it on Jan. 15, 2010. The sculpture was planned by Mainichi Shimbun Newspapers.Feb 13, 2010
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The Iolani Palace ice sculpture is 16 meters wide and 8 meters high. It was built with 700 large blocks of ice weighing 135 kg (298 lb.) each. Feb 13, 2010
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The 61st Sapporo Snow Festival was held during Feb. 5-11, 2010 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Among the giant snow sculptures was Hawaii's Iolani Palace made of ice. It was the reason why I decided to see this festival again.Feb 13, 2010
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Iolani Palace, a giant ice sculpture at the 61st Sapporo Snow Festival during Feb. 5-11, 2010. During the day, it has a translucent, blue look. It is the festival's largest ice sculpture. This block is officially called the Mainichi Shimbun Ice SquareFeb 13, 2010
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