We all loved to be building snowmen in winter when we were very young, didn’t we? Everywhere in the world, you use three snowballs to make a snowman. But in Japan, you make it with only two.

History of Snowman

Snowman is a snow statue made of snow by children during winter in regions with heavy snowfall. In winter times, Northern areas of Japan see a lot of snowfall. Even in outskirts of cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, one could find snow alongside roads in between the months of January and March. The history of building snowmen dates back to some thousands of years, but the recorded documentation is found around medieval centuries. Building a snowman is a pastime activity not only for many children, but also for the parents who want to kill some time in frozen winters.

Building a Snowman

Building a snowman is very easy and it does not require any special skills. Have you ever tried this when you were a kid? For those of you who live in tropical countries and do not really see heavy snowfall in winter, it might not have been possible. But you can still try it now. In Japan, everyone normally makes a snowman with just two snowballs. First of all, one needs to find the right place, possibly somewhere in a secluded area where nobody can disturb your snowman. Then, one needs to roll up snow and make a giant ball, followed by making another smaller ball. After that, one puts the smaller ball on the larger ball and add smileys, glasses, caps, scarves and other things to make it look like a human. It’s pretty easy. :)

Snowman competition

In Japan, every winter, especially in deeply frozen areas like Nagano and Hokkaido, snowman building competitions are held. Last time, during the Sapporo snow festival, some 10000 snowmen were built and displayed at the exhibition. Sapporo holds the world record for making the maximum number of snowmen until now. Next time when you’re travelling in Japan during winter, do not forget to take a picture with these snowmen.

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