Snow Snow Snow, Finally.
There is a very famous snow festival in Japan, which has gained international fame. It's at a wee place called Hokkaido, where every year skilled sculptors make wildly elaborate snow and ice sculptures. I am familiar with their work, having been to an exhibition where most of Rembrandts works translated were translated into snow and ice (Ruben in Dutchland, December 2005)... At this snow festival they have everything from ice castles to tacky Japanese cartoon characters. They have something for everyone, unless you don't like the cold. And every year, the JET program has a trip to this famous snow festival.
I don't know exactly why I mention this, because I did not go, nor was I ever planning to. However, there was a similar event closer to home. Nestled in the Japanese Alps, is a small mountain village called Toga where they have an annual small snow festival. It is very-much like me to choose the substitute: I have been to Little Venice, Little Kyoto, Tokyo Disneyland…I've even seen a mini Statue of Liberty and supersized at McDonalds in Japan. If you are as good at lieing to yourself as I am, it can save you a lot of money. So this mini snow festival was a much more viable option, decided Tim, my New Zealander neighbour, and I. The plan was, we'd drive up and he'd go snowboarding for a few hours while I check out the festival. It seemed like a good way to spend a Saturday. Just before leaving, he had to stop to buy underwear. I still don't understand this, and I have stopped trying to. I suggest you do the same. I'm not even sure why I mentioned this.
The winter in Toyama, and all Japan I guess, has been incredibly mild. Whereas last year I am constantly told there was a fisherman-tale-like 11 metres of snow, this year was simply a treatable case of dandruff. When I went to the ski-field a few weeks ago, it was sometimes more like downhill wakeboarding. There were several large patches of dirt and jagged rocks to avoid. (this made learning to snowboard much more exciting). The trip to Toga and the prospect of seeing real snow was exciting. The drive was stunning, but at times the road was so narrow, I couldn't help but feel this was not the right road. The road kept climbing higher into the mountains, but was thankfully carved out by snow ploughs (Note: 'narrow-mountain-road-snow-plough-man' must be one of the most dangerous jobs in the world). Anyways, we made it, and I dropped Tim off at the ski-field. I allowed myself 3 hours to check out the festival.
3 hours was incredibly ambitious. Yes, the snow sculptures were stunning- 2 days ago, before it began to rain and melt them.... Calling this a "mini" snow festival was still an exaggeration. Still, it was definitely an experience. The food stalls were good, and there were enough people to talk to to pass the time. There was also a "custom" (i.e. inexplicably stupid thing people perpetuate every year until they simply accept it) where 5 or 6 old men wearing straw capes sat on a huge log, and made a lot noise until all the visitors came over and pulled them around the festival grounds. These old guys were loving it! Snow festival log riding: that's where I want to be when I'm 80. We were given free sake afterwards.
I somehow managed to kill those 3 hours, but Tim wanted to see the festival too. And then we were enticed to stay to watch the fireworks. This means, in all, I was at this tiny mountain festival from 1 until 8pm hours, and as I was driving, I couldn't drink.. This was my 'mini 7 years in Tibet'. The festival was lit up, making the sculptures stand out, and the entertainment got going. It wasn't necessarily 'good entertainment', but at least they tried. Just before the fireworks, it began to snow. The only fireworks displays I have seen until now involve loading a barge full of explosives, and setting them off one-by-one. This one was choreographed with music and a semi-traditional dance group on the snow stage in front. As the sky lit up in brilliant colours behind the stage and the snowflakes, it made the wait seem all worthwhile.
All that was left now, was to drive home. I knew it would be slow going at night, with a now near-blizzard, but this was ridiculous. It turns out I missed the turnoff... . It turns out I drove down the hill in the wrong direction, and ended up driving 2 sides of a triangle. I haven't been this lost in a long time. The day couldn't get any better.
It didn't.
No comments:
Post a Comment