The Sound of Snow Being Packed at Five in the Morning
You hear them before you see anything. Somewhere past the still-dark treeline of Odori Park, there’s a rhythmic thudding — teams of Japan Self-Defense Forces soldiers packing snow into wooden frames the size of apartment buildings. By the time the Sapporo Snow Festival opens on February 4, 2026, those frames will be gone. In their place: sculptures taller than the streetlights, carved with a precision that makes you forget this is frozen water.
The festival runs eight days, through February 11. Over two million people will file through. That number sounds inflated until you’re actually standing in the crowd on a Saturday night, shoulder-to-shoulder, breath visible, everyone looking up at the same fifteen-meter recreation of whatever building or anime character the Self-Defense Forces chose this year.
Odori Park — Where the Big Ones Are
The main venue stretches 1.5 kilometers through central Sapporo, split into numbered blocks. Each block has a different theme or sponsor. Block 4 is usually where the largest international collaboration piece goes. Block 8 tends to have the one everyone photographs.
During the day, the sculptures are impressive but somewhat flat — white shapes against white sky. It’s after dark that everything changes. Projection mapping shows run on the hour, turning the snow surfaces into screens. The technology has gotten genuinely good in recent years; the colors are vivid and the mapping precise enough that the 3D contours of the sculpture interact with the projected imagery.
The downside of Odori: it’s essentially a long, straight park, and on peak nights the foot traffic moves in one direction at a pace dictated by the person in front of you. If you want to actually stop and look, weekday evenings or early mornings on the first few days are your window.
Susukino After Dark
Susukino is Sapporo’s entertainment district — neon signs, bars, ramen shops on every corner. During the festival, a stretch of the main avenue gets lined with ice sculptures. These are different from the snow pieces at Odori: transparent blocks, sometimes with Hokkaido seafood frozen inside them (crabs, fish, scallops). The effect under the streetlights is genuinely strange and beautiful.
The ice carving competition happens here too. Watching the carvers work is weirdly meditative — they use chainsaws for the rough cuts and chisels the size of pencils for the details. Some of the finished pieces are extraordinary, though they start deteriorating within days depending on temperature.
Susukino is also where you’ll end up eating. The ramen shops around here stay open late, and after a few hours in -5°C air, a bowl of Sapporo miso ramen isn’t just food — it’s a full-body reset. Keyaki in the Ramen Alley (Ganso Sapporo Ramen Yokocho) is the one locals argue about. There are probably better bowls elsewhere, but the alley itself is worth seeing.
Tsudome — Mostly for Kids, Honestly
The third venue, Tsudome, is in eastern Sapporo and primarily offers snow slides, tube rafting, and play areas. If you’re traveling with children under ten, it’s worth the trip. If you’re not, you can probably skip it without regret. The shuttle bus from central Sapporo takes about 40 minutes depending on traffic, which during the festival can be unpredictable.
One thing Tsudome does have: indoor rest areas with food stalls, which are useful if you need to warm up before heading back out.
What -7°C Actually Feels Like
People ask about the cold. February temperatures in Sapporo typically sit between -7°C and -1°C, though it can dip lower on clear nights. The cold itself is dry, which makes it more tolerable than you’d expect — nothing like -3°C in humid Seoul or Shanghai.
That said, you need proper gear. Thermal base layers, a windproof outer shell, insulated waterproof boots with aggressive grip. The packed snow on sidewalks gets slick, and I’ve watched enough tourists go down to say this: your regular winter coat from a temperate city is not enough. Buy hand warmers at any convenience store — they’re about ¥100 for a pack and last eight hours.
One thing nobody tells you: your phone battery dies fast in this cold. Keep it in an inner pocket close to your body. If you’re planning to take photos all evening, bring a small power bank and keep that warm too.
Getting There and Getting Around
New Chitose Airport handles most arrivals. Direct flights from Tokyo (Haneda or Narita) take about 1.5 hours; Osaka and Nagoya also have direct service. Several international carriers fly in from Seoul, Taipei, and Hong Kong during winter season.
From the airport, the JR Rapid Airport train reaches Sapporo Station in 37 minutes. It runs frequently but gets crowded during festival week — if you’re arriving with luggage, try to avoid the Friday evening rush.
Within Sapporo, the subway is the easiest way to move. Odori Station puts you right at the park. Susukino Station is one stop south. Both venues are walkable from either station. For Tsudome, there’s a shuttle bus from either Sakaemachi or Tsudome-mae stations.
If you’re planning to combine Sapporo with other Hokkaido destinations — Otaru, Niseko, Asahikawa — a rental car gives you flexibility, but driving in Hokkaido winter requires snow tires and some confidence on icy roads. The trains are reliable and scenic if you’d rather not deal with it.
Trip.com usually has decent package deals bundling flights and Sapporo hotels during the festival period, though prices spike the closer you get to February. Booking in November or December is the sweet spot.
Beyond the Sculptures
Sapporo itself has enough to fill days without the festival. The Sapporo Beer Museum is touristy but genuinely interesting if you care about the history of beer in Japan — and the tasting at the end is cheap. Tanukikoji shopping arcade is a covered street that stretches forever; it’s not glamorous but it’s where locals actually shop.
For something worth the side trip: Jozankei Onsen is about 50 minutes south by bus. It’s a hot spring town tucked into a river valley, and soaking in an outdoor rotenburo while snow falls on your head is one of those experiences that sounds clichéd until you’re actually doing it. Several of the ryokan offer day-use bathing for ¥1,000-2,000.
KLOOK has day-trip packages to Jozankei that include transport, which saves you figuring out the bus schedule. Not necessary if you’re comfortable navigating Japanese transit apps, but convenient.
The Part About Crowds
The festival draws over two million visitors in eight days. That’s a lot of people in a not-very-large park. Weekend evenings at Odori, especially around the main sculptures, can feel claustrophobic. The projection mapping shows create bottlenecks because everyone stops walking at once.
If you have flexibility: Tuesday through Thursday evenings are noticeably calmer. The first two days of the festival also tend to be less packed, and the sculptures are at their sharpest before wind and warm spells start softening the edges.
Phone signal gets congested in the densest areas. Don’t count on mobile maps loading quickly. Screenshot your walking route beforehand, or just follow the crowd — you can’t really get lost along a straight park.
Heading Home
The last train from Susukino to Sapporo Station runs around midnight, but during festival week the restaurants and bars stay open much later. Walking back to your hotel through the empty park around 1 AM, when all the sculptures are still lit but nobody’s around — that’s a different festival entirely. Quieter. The snow absorbs sound in a way that makes the city feel padded.
I got back to the hotel that night with numb toes and a phone at 3%. The heating in the room was already on. I fell asleep in my coat.
