Asahikawa - Day One

It was cold and snowing when we arrived

A perfect time for the zip on the four hooker coat to die.
I did buy it in 2008 or thereabouts, so despite some people's assertions that I should have gone for more hookers, I think it probably had a good run.

There was a carving of some red crowned cranes outside the station.

They are found in Hokkaido, mostly to the east side. Emma wanted to go to a wetland and see some of them, but it was probably going to be 2 full days of travel (trains don't go anywhere near it) plus time there, so it ended up being too impractical to fit in the trip.

Asahikawa has a sculpture contest as well.

I think it is probably better than the Sapporo one

I don't think there was a theme to the contest, but almost all of the carvings were either "stuff eating other stuff"

or involved boobs

It was valentines day around the time. 

Either that or this is a celebration of 100 years of the Asahikawa municipal enforcement bureau

An illuminated tunnel

An illuminated gazebo

getting cold

A map of the Asahikawa winter festival grounds

An ice dragon h was part of a group of carvings at the festival grounds

A sledding run

The sledding run starts above the stage

The ice bricks in the wall of the sledding run

The stage

An unheated toilet cubicle at the festival

I hope you didn't want to wash your hands.

A local artist gives a weird metal/dubstep performance

A light path

Starting above the festival grounds

Frozen flowers

The light path led down to some more illuminations

This one involved some lasers

As well as the more traditional candles

It led all the way back to the illuminated tunnel we'd walked past earlier

It had gotten a touch colder in the intervening hours.