Explanation of the Snow Festival
Thank you for coming to the Sapporo Snow Festival.
Welcome to the Mainichi ice park, it was brought to you by the Mainichi press newspaper Hokkaido division.
This time we have replicated the original Hakodate magistrate's office building.
This ice built statue is the largest of this festival.
The original Hakodate magistrate's office was built whithin the Goryoukaku castle compound about 150 years ago.
Although it was constructed in 1871 by the new government, it was the Hokkaido division of the Tokugawa shogunate (the old Edo government).
Currently, it is undergoing reconstruction within the walls of goryoukaku castle by the Hakodate city government.
The ice statue construction staff are members of the Japan ice statue association.
It's made up of 1000 seperate ice cubes.
Each cube weighs 150 kilograms, it took almost 3 weeks, working every day.
It is a memorial to the 150th anniversary of the Hakodate port opening.
If you come here in the evening, you may view it in its' full beauty,
as the spotlights and illumination on the ice statue will create a fantastic sight.
It's definitely worthwhile.

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