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.484 views
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I could only wonder if these girls knew the significance of the sculpture they were performing in front of.283 views
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Girls in Hokkaido look healthy, thanks to Hokkaido's clean environment, wide-open spaces, and good food.259 views
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Makomanai site: Snow slides with Arare-chan, anime character popular in 1982.232 views
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北海道美人229 views
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Kinkakuji Gold Pavilion in Kyoto, made of snow.223 views
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This yosakoi soran group was from Hokkaido University.220 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 Square217 views
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Dinosaur snow sculpture at 1982 Sapporo Snow Festival.209 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.204 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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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. 2008.175 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 2010.162 views
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Now for some entertainment in front of the Iolani Palace ice sculpture as the crowd waits.159 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157 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. 150 views
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The statue of King Kamehameha did not come out that well, but I was happy to see it nonetheless. 149 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.146 views
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Incredible dinosaur snow sculptures. I can tell you, this was really awesome.143 views
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You can't be afraid of heights while working on these giant sculptures.142 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.142 views
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Dinnosaurs lit up at night.136 views
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Day after the snow festival: Destroy all dinosaurs!135 views
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Odori Park from the TV Tower. 132 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.129 views
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Looking mean.128 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.127 views
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The Iolani Palace was built in Feb. 1982 to commemorate direct flights between Sapporo and Honolulu (since discontinued).124 views
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They should be cheerleaders.123 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. 2010.122 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. 122 views
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As the days pass, their progress becomes ever apparent as the building becomes more and more familiar.121 views
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Iolani Palace in snow, lit up at night121 views
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Putting on the finishing touches on the sculpture.121 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.121 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.120 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.120 views
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They haul numerous blocks of ice.120 views
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T-rex twins.119 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.118 views
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They install wooden beams serving to reinforce the snow structures.117 views
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The USA team sculpted the American Circus.117 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.116 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. 115 views
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A Shinto shrine made of ice.115 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.114 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.114 views
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Ice sculpture of a church in Helsinki, Finland114 views
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Filling up the mold...113 views
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Filling the mold for a tall neck of a dinosaur.113 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.112 views
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Guess what this part will be.112 views
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I think this was the lion dog at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka.112 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.111 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.110 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.110 views
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The facade is shaped...110 views
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Destroying Iolani Palace made of snow.110 views
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The large citizens' area feature smaller snow sculptures created by city citizens. Snow blocks are provided.110 views
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Even the veins look realistic. Pterodactyl made of snow.109 views
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Building an ice sculpture.109 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. 108 views
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Japan's Self-Defense Forces108 views
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A drawing of Iolani Palace helps the carvers to carve the sculpture accurately.108 views
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Shaping the pterodactyl108 views
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Hello baby!108 views
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This is a lion dog at a shrine in Fukuoka.108 views
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John Lennon108 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?107 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.107 views
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Pterodactyl wings107 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.106 views
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Shaping up very well.106 views
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Icy foundation for the ice sculpture.106 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??105 views
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In the late afternoon, they start to light up the sculptures. 105 views
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Para-para dancer105 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.105 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.105 views
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Head of T-Rex105 views
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The Sapporo Snow Festival also features at least one giant ice sculpture. The foundation is made of ice.105 views
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Rear view of the Iolani Palace ice sculpture. Scaffolding propped up colored lights.104 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.104 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."104 views
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Brontosaurus104 views
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Each giant snow sculpture becomes a pile of snowy rubble.104 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).103 views
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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?103 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??103 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.103 views
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The international section of sculptures.103 views
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Hong Kong snow sculpture.103 views
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The Iolani Palace ice sculpture had a slim profile. This is a side view.102 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.102 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.101 viewsおい、ハワイ州観光局はまったくいないぞ。
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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。101 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.101 views
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The reinforcement beams are covered with snow. A crane is used to carry the snow to high places.101 views
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Another boy group called B-Luck.100 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.100 views
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They continue filling the giant box with snow. They are making Iolani Palace out of snow.100 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.99 views
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Notice how the colored lighting varied between dark orange and white lighting.99 views
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Other entertainment included amateur rock bands.97 views
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A trio of girls perform the para-para dance.96 views
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They kept jumping up.94 views
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Very lively group.94 views
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