To finish off the winter season, we decided to go and suss out a snow festival that had taken place on the border of Aomori and Akita Prefectures. The mister and I took a trip to Towadako (or Towada Lake), which was about a 3-ish hour drive from Morioka, and did a bit of sightseeing (as we do) before venturing off to the festival.
Towadako is located on the border of Akita and Aomori, as stated above, and is the deepest lake (at 327 meters) in Honshuu Island of Japan. When we arrived it was partially frozen, and the sun was also starting to set, which made for some lovely photos. And as my writing isn't magnificently engaging, please enjoy my amateur photography instead!
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| During the drive |
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| Towadako panorama time! |
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| Partially frozen lake |
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| Lake tour boats |
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| Frozen water drops always look so interesting |
After taking some nice snaps, we drove to where the snow event was being held, and took a quick break before heading in (also to warm up inside the car, since it was rather chilly outside). I noticed a few people entering the event and soon exiting again, which made me wonder if there was even a whole lot to see. But anyway! We eventually ventured out into the cold to see what this snow festival was all about!
As we approached, there was a snow wall with strings of light bulbs encased in little igloos to light up the way and looked oh-so pretty, and a short entrance tunnel covered in blue lights.
Once inside, there wasn't a whole heap of people...probably because there wasn't a whole lot of things to see, but nonetheless they seemed to be enjoying themselves. A lot of children were pulling along plastic sleds, as there were two man-made slopes to go speeding down (responsibly of course!). There were light displays, archways to have couple-photos taken (because Japan's all about those "romantic stories" and such), some interesting snow architecture including a bar where people can try out some of Japan's alcohol range, a stage with a huge feature snow wall, and an alley with food stalls. We had a good time just leisurely walking around, taking photos, and freezing our fingers off.
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| Chocolate coated strawberries! I wish the chocolate was dairy free... |
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| Looking a bit Christmasy! |
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| Freeze for your sins? Jk guys! |
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| 80 years of snow festivities! |
Just gonna pop in and talk about this bar. I don't drink a lot (so dun ask me about sake, sorry), so I wasn't super interested in going in, but we noticed other people going in with their kids, and since child-alcoholics were very unlikely...we kinda thought maybe there was something else inside. And I'm so glad I stopped being a party pooper and decided to go in, because I was greeted by a huge snow Totoro! Best bar ever, right?
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| A snow No-Face too! Also two small ice sculptures that the camera has a whole lotta trouble capturing. |
And that's all for the bar!
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| One of the prettier archways, with lights and cherry blossoms. |
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| Sometimes I find the excessive lovey-dovey features a bit cheesy... |
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| People could get a couple or family photo taken here for a fee, so being the cheapskate I am, I took it from afar! |
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| Not sure about this butt-dancing snowman...haha |
Eventually a crowd started to gather at the stage, and a couple of performers played music (with the volume set rather loudly, mind you), so we decided to stay and watch for a little, before retreating back to the car to warm up. The area we parked in was actually perfect, since there was a fireworks show and we could just recline and watch the show while we warmed up with the car heater and just lazed for a bit. Ten minutes later, the fireworks were over, and people started to leave (we did eventually, after the small masses cleared out). Overall the festival was kinda on the small side, but not disappointing considering it was a free event, and it went from around 4pm until around 8.15pm (with the live performances starting around 6.30pm). Not bad for a leisurely night out.
Since winter is now ending and we're heading into the warmer spring season, I'm SO looking forward to cherry blossoms and taking more lovely photos to share! Until next time, my friends~
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