BY MASAHIRO SHIBATA

The Sapporo Snow Festival was held from February 5th through 7th this　year. This festival, which originated in 1950 with six little snow statues by the students of four high schools and two junior high schools, is now in its 50th year. About 2.2 million people enjoyed this festival, which was held at three locations in the city. In all there were three hundred and twenty-eight ice sculptures and snow statues made in this festival. There were large and impressive snow statues, painstaking works made by people of the city or by participants in the International Snow Statue Contest, and various kinds of other snow statues.

During the festival the International Snow Statue Contest was held from February 4th through the 7th, and many members of teams from twenty countries and areas participated in this event ; Argentina, Australia, Canada, Peopleﾕs Republic of China, Denmark, Finland, Guam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan, Hawaii, India, Saipan, and Sweden. Also, three students from Sapporo University (including myself), five students from Hokkaido University of Education in Sapporo, and a student from Hokusei Gakuen University joined the event and supported many international members as part-time interpreters.

Each team is required to have four people, and the members of teams varied from country to country ; exchange students, foreign residents in Japan, people who carve snow statues all over the world, and people who saw snow for the first time in their life. It is heart-warming to see various people make snow statues showing their national characteristics under the same conditions. This year, it kept snowing and the temperature dropped while participants made their snow statues. But these were rather favorable conditions. Their statues were made without any problem, because the snow did not begin to melt away.

The Awards Ceremony was held on February 7th. Each team seemed to be satisfied with their completed snow statues and waited for the results on the stage. The Grand Champion of the A-group was the Hong Kong team, the Champion was the Malaysia team, the First Prize was awarded to the Thailand team, the Second Prize was awarded to the Argentina team, and the Third Prize was awarded to the Canada team. As for the B-group the Grand Champion was the Sweden team, and the Champion was the Hawaii team. The people from Asia put up a good fight because they made snow statues without taking a rest night or day. With loud cheering and clapping from the audience, participants gave us their big smiles.

After the Farewell Party, they left Sapporo immediately. On the bus to Chitose Airport I asked a man who belongs to the Saipan team some questions. First of all, when I asked him about snow he said, ﾒWe donﾕt have snow at all, and have never seen it at home. Iﾕd like to take it for our children.ﾓ And then he showed me some photographs of his family. ﾒMy wifeﾕs mother is Japanese, so she speaks in Japanese. I speak five languages.ﾓ He showed me by counting his fingers. According to him, they are the languages spoken in his country. I asked him about the acquisition of languages. ﾒI learned languages which were Greek to me by writing and speaking over and over again. But the best way to learn languages is going to the country where the languages you want to learn are spoken. I have been to Japan to study Japanese for two months in my school days. Are you going to go to Saipan to study English with us ?” After telling a light joke to me, he firmly promised me that he will come to the International Snow Statue Contest again. My part-time job was very hard from early morning to midnight, but I realized again what I got there was very important to me.

The fifty years of the Sapporo Snow Festival have repainted the image of the severe northern winter into bright, exultant hues, and they also show the footprints of the enthusiasm and savvy of the people of Sapporo. But Iﾕm sorry that there were some incidents which pertain to morality of the audience, even though we reached this point ; There were people who got around the ropes with no trespassing signs on them and climbed on snow statues, and also people who swore at participants. And what is worse, there were people who damaged the completed snow statue of the United Kingdom team. Foreigners must have regarded their thoughtless behaviors as a Japanese characteristic, and must have been deeply hurt by them. These behaviors are absolutely shameful for us Japanese. Now I bring it up as morality. But when it is brought up as matter of rules, we must have enough responsibility for our respective actions. The words which were given to me by the man from Saipan struck me deeply. He said, "I have never even dreamed we could hold a snow festival at home. Itﾕs a great honor for me to take part in this festival."