 Most viewed - Iolani Palace at Sapporo Snow Festival イオラニ宮殿@さっぽろ雪まつり |
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.506 views
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I could only wonder if these girls knew the significance of the sculpture they were performing in front of.321 views
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Girls in Hokkaido look healthy, thanks to Hokkaido's clean environment, wide-open spaces, and good food.299 views
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北海道美人271 views
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This yosakoi soran group was from Hokkaido University.260 views
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Makomanai site: Snow slides with Arare-chan, anime character popular in 1982.256 views
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Kinkakuji Gold Pavilion in Kyoto, made of snow.242 views
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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 Square240 views
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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.233 viewsThis 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.
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Dinosaur snow sculpture at 1982 Sapporo Snow Festival.231 views
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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. 2008.208 viewsThis photo was also featured on Hawaii's TV talk show "Nighttime with Andy Bumatai." See the segment at YouTube here.
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My YouTube video of Iolani Palace at the Sapporo Snow Matsuri in 2010.185 views
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Now for some entertainment in front of the Iolani Palace ice sculpture as the crowd waits.180 views
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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174 views
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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. 170 views
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Incredible dinosaur snow sculptures. I can tell you, this was really awesome.169 views
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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.169 views
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The statue of King Kamehameha did not come out that well, but I was happy to see it nonetheless. 168 viewsHe was the king who unified Hawaii while the different islands were still ruled by different chiefs.
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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.166 views
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You can't be afraid of heights while working on these giant sculptures.161 views
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Day after the snow festival: Destroy all dinosaurs!160 views
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Dinnosaurs lit up at night.159 views
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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.155 views
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Odori Park from the TV Tower. 154 views
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Looking mean.150 views
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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.148 views
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Iolani Palace in snow, lit up at night148 views
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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.147 views
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Putting on the finishing touches on the sculpture.145 views
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The Iolani Palace was built in Feb. 1982 to commemorate direct flights between Sapporo and Honolulu (since discontinued).144 views
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They should be cheerleaders.143 views
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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. 143 views
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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.143 views
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As the days pass, their progress becomes ever apparent as the building becomes more and more familiar.142 views
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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. 2010.142 views
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T-rex twins.142 views
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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.141 views
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Filling the mold for a tall neck of a dinosaur.141 views
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They haul numerous blocks of ice.140 views
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The USA team sculpted the American Circus.140 views
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A Shinto shrine made of ice.139 views
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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. 137 views
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They install wooden beams serving to reinforce the snow structures.136 views
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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.135 views
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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.135 views
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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.135 views
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Ice sculpture of a church in Helsinki, Finland135 views
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I think this was the lion dog at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka.135 views
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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.134 views
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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.134 views
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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.134 views
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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.133 views
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The facade is shaped...133 views
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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.132 views
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Filling up the mold...132 views
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Head of T-Rex132 views
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Building an ice sculpture.132 views
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The large citizens' area feature smaller snow sculptures created by city citizens. Snow blocks are provided.132 views
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Guess what this part will be.131 views
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Even the veins look realistic. Pterodactyl made of snow.131 views
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Destroying Iolani Palace made of snow.130 views
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Pterodactyl wings130 views
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Shaping the pterodactyl130 views
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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?129 views
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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.129 views
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This is a lion dog at a shrine in Fukuoka.129 views
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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).128 views
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In the late afternoon, they start to light up the sculptures. 128 views
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John Lennon128 views
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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??127 views
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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.127 views
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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.127 views
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Shaping up very well.127 views
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The Sapporo Snow Festival also features at least one giant ice sculpture. The foundation is made of ice.127 views
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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.126 viewsおい、ハワイ州観光局はまったくいないぞ。
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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?126 views
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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. 126 views
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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."126 views
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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.126 views
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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.126 views
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Japan's Self-Defense Forces126 views
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Hello baby!126 views
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The Iolani Palace ice sculpture had a slim profile. This is a side view.125 views
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Rear view of the Iolani Palace ice sculpture. Scaffolding propped up colored lights.125 views
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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??125 views
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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.125 views
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A drawing of Iolani Palace helps the carvers to carve the sculpture accurately.125 views
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Brontosaurus125 views
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Each giant snow sculpture becomes a pile of snowy rubble.125 views
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Icy foundation for the ice sculpture.125 views
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Hong Kong snow sculpture.125 views
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Para-para dancer124 views
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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.124 views
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Another boy group called B-Luck.123 views
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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.122 views
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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。122 views
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A trio of girls perform the para-para dance.122 views
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The reinforcement beams are covered with snow. A crane is used to carry the snow to high places.121 views
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The international section of sculptures.121 views
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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.119 views
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Other entertainment included amateur rock bands.119 views
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Notice how the colored lighting varied between dark orange and white lighting.119 views
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Very lively group.119 views
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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.118 views
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They continue filling the giant box with snow. They are making Iolani Palace out of snow.116 views
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They kept jumping up.113 views
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