This video is presented as part of Mochitsuki-2021, Portland, Oregon’s Japanese New Year’s festival.
Please go to for more videos like this celebrating the Japanese New Year with taiko, calligraphy, tea ceremony, mochi pounding and more!
An introduction to the annual snow festival which takes place each winter in Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido. Large excavators are use to move over 500 truckloads of snow to form piles as high as four stories which are then hand carved by 10,000 workers and artisans to make the beautiful creations. Illumination and projection of images upon the carvings at night enhances the beauty of these marvels of snow and ice.
About Portland-Sapporo Sister City Association
Connecting the people of Portland and our sister city Sapporo, the Portland-Sapporo Sister City Association is the organization that stewards the longest-running Sister City relationship in Portland, Oregon — and one of the oldest in the United States. With a mission of fostering and promoting cross-cultural understanding between the U.S. and Japan. We celebrate the similarities and the differences between these two beautiful cities by supporting many forms of interaction. These include hosting visits of international delegations; facilitating political outreach; encouraging educational connections; participating in or producing Japanese-themed events; promoting communication, both local and international; and sending local artists to every snow sculpture contest at the snow festival. We welcome volunteers and supporters to be part of this longstanding tradition.
Learn more at:
Alo Japan.