Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

Not since the Battle of Hoth have we seen Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers look so epic in the snow. At the 66th Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan, 3,500 tons of snow have been transformed into a vast sculpture of Darth Vader holding his lightsaber, along with three Stormtroopers, Vader's TIE Advanced fighter and even the Death Star.

The snow sculpture, which measures a whopping 15 meters tall and 23 meters wide (49 feet by 75 feet), was created by the 11th Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and was approved by Lucasfilm.

The Japanese soldiers worked on the sculpture -- using huge for almost a month as part of a training exercise, according to Quartz.

The "Star Wars" tribute joins more than 200 other snow and ice sculptures on display at the festival in Sapporo, on the northerly island of Hokkaido. It runs until February 11 and expects to entice more than 2 million visitors.

You can see behind-the-scenes photos and footage of the "Star Wars" snow sculpture being created here.