SAPPORO -- Concerns are growing over whether the upcoming Sapporo Snow Festival, an annual winter tradition for Hokkaido's capital city, will go ahead as scheduled due to a spell of unusually warm weather and a lack of snow here.

Sapporo observed a high of 5.4 degrees Celsius on Jan. 20, around the level seen in mid-March, even though the day is traditionally considered the coldest day of the year in Japan. As the city has this year seen a streak of above-average temperatures, snow has melted away during the day, creating pools of water all over the place. With the snow festival slated to commence on Feb. 4, the parties concerned are worried they may have to change the designs of giant snow sculptures that will adorn the festival venues.

The Sapporo Snow Festival originated in the post-World War II era, when the local tourism association called for people to join hands to dispel the gloomy mood in society overshadowed by the chronic shortages of food and other daily necessities. The first festival was held in 1950, and this year's marks the 75th edition.

Previously, the Self-Defense Forces created snow statues as part of their winter training, but due to troop cuts, citizens started to participate in sculpting. The "Citizen's Snow Sculptures," which are created by locals including colleagues and community friends, reflecting social trends and people in the news, first appeared in 1965, and they became photo spots. The festival draws 2 million visitors every year, and the upcoming event is expected to attract many inbound tourists.

At Odori Park, the event's main venue, the production of 129 snow and ice sculptures is underway. Sapporo Deputy Mayor Shuji Amano visited the 10-Chome venue on Jan. 24. He told those hard at work, "I assume you're having a hard time with work procedures due to the unstable temperatures," and offered them encouragement.

The venue is hosting a gigantic snow sculpture themed on the popular game "Monster Hunter Wilds," which measures 20 by 13 meters in length and width and stands 13 meters tall. Tomonari Yoshikawa, 50, of the Sapporo Youth Activity Association, who heads the sculpting team, noted, "The snow coating the surface of the sculpture has melted, potentially making its strength insufficient," and is considering design changes to vulnerable parts. While Yoshikawa has a decadelong career in snow sculpting, he recalls no precedent of daily low temperatures rising above zero around this season. "We'll be worried unless the temperature drops to 4 to 5 C below zero," he said.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency's Sapporo Regional Headquarters, the warm winter was triggered by a warm air mass from the south while the westerlies were positioned further north than usual in January, which made it difficult for winter pressure patterns to form in Hokkaido. Winter patterns typically feature a high-pressure system to the west and a low-pressure system to the east. Temperatures have been generally warm across Hokkaido, with Kushiro and other eastern regions on the Pacific side of the northernmost prefecture experiencing especially high temperatures. Except for northern areas, the prefecture has also recorded low snowfall this season, at around 60% of the level seen in normal years.

While Sapporo normally observes a streak of sub-zero daily highs in the month of January, as of Jan. 27 there had been 18 days this winter where the high temperature stayed above zero. Furthermore, there were four days when the daily lows didn't dip below zero, making low temperatures for the month the warmest since Jan. 30, 2020, when a low of 1.1 C was recorded. In addition, the snowfall this season totaled a mere 37 centimeters as of Jan. 27, trailing only after January 1997, when the city received a record low of 35 cm of snow. The city's accumulated snow measured just 22 cm, around the level normally seen in late March.

The warm weather has also affected other events. The Maruyama ice skating rink in Sapporo's Chuo Ward, which normally opens around Jan. 20, has canceled this season's operations due to the inability to freeze the rink.

According to the city's tourism and MICE promotion department, which backs Sapporo as a convention venue, the snow to be used in the Sapporo Snow Festival had already been brought into the venues in early January, with some portions from afar, so there was little impact. However, the warm temperatures are affecting other sites hosting snow and ice sculptures, forcing people to work on them at night when the temperature drops in some cases.

With the warm winter also attributed to global warming, can the snow festival keep going in the future? A city official noted, "In the long run, if similar situations are to continue, we may need to take some kind of action," hinting at the possibility of altering how the festival is organized.

With ample snowfall forecast for this weekend, it remains to be seen if the snow festival will fold out just as normal.

(Japanese original by Junji Takayama, Hokkaido News Department)