“We had to bring in snow from places we had never reached out to before” such as Niseko, a town about 60 kilometers (40 miles) away from Sapporo famous for its skiing, he said.

Adding to the problem was the need for pristine snow, perfect for sculpting.

“The snow needs to be free of dirt, otherwise the sculptures can break up,” he said.

“We barely managed to scrape together enough snow.”

Record low snowfall in Japan this year has also forced many ski resorts to shut their pistes. According to Weathernews, one quarter of the 400 resorts surveyed had been unable to operate.

There has been a knock-on effect on one of the snow festival’s main attractions — a 100-meter-long, 10-meter-high slide — that had to be reduced in size.