{"id":76206,"date":"2011-02-05T13:05:05","date_gmt":"2011-02-05T04:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/welcome.city.matsumoto.nagano.jp\/modules\/xpressme\/?p=319"},"modified":"2018-04-02T19:38:26","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T10:38:26","slug":"the-ice-sculpture-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.visitmatsumoto.com\/en\/events\/the-ice-sculpture-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ice Sculpture Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nThe Ice Sculpture Festival<\/a> is a hot event held in the coldest season, a weekend in late-January, at Matsumoto Castle.
\nI went there on January 30th.
\nThis year, the temperature was cold (0.3 to -7.2 degrees centigrade) enough to keep the ice sculptures in a good condition.
\nThese are the ice sculpture works nominated for the contest.
\n

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“Dragon”<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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“Prometheus's Fight”<\/figcaption><\/figure>

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\"\"They were carved all night from 6pm in the cold outside!
\nYou can experience Japanese ice craftsmen’s artisan spirit at this festival so this event is popular among foreigners.
<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It is crowed daytime, so it`s best enjoyed on Saturday evening when you can see the sculptors working, or Sunday early morning when you can see the newly built beautiful sculptors.
<\/p>\n

\"\"Kids also have fun with a long ice slide and some shows on a stage.<\/p>\n

You can also enjoy hot local Japanese food like oyaki and ramen sold in stalls.
<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>* Photos at night and early morning were taken by Emiko Misawa<\/em>.
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