Chitose-Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival, just outside Sapporo is all about forming ice while it is still young, before it becomes something menacing such as black ice on the road. Ice crystals are tamed into shimmering ice structures that glow from within by using colored lights. At night this creates a fairy-tale atmosphere featuring these semi-sculptured snow blobs and monoliths.
They start designing the ice festival in November, when they build metal frames to make the structures such as the ice buildings. As soon as the temperature drops below freezing, a sprinkler system takes water from Lake Shikotsu and sprays it over the metal frames, creating layers and layers of new ice.
