10 best ice and snow festivals in Japan in 2024

Perhaps the most famous winter festival in Japan is the Sapporo Snow Festival up in Hokkaido. This year, the festival will take place for a week from February 4 to 11 at two locations: Odori Park and the Susukino neighbourhood. You’ll be able to marvel at jaw-dropping snow and ice sculptures that range from cute characters to intricate works of art. It’s worth a visit both during the day and in the evening as the snow and ice sculptures are illuminated with colourful lights once the sun goes down.

Now in its 45th year, this annual ice festival at Lake Shikotsu in Hokkaido is a real stunner. It takes place from January 27 to February 25 and is divided into several zones including the ice shrine, ice kitchen, and the jaw-dropping ice tunnel leading to a gorgeous ice chandelier. You can also stop by one of the many onsen hot springs around Lake Shikotsu to warm up after enjoying the icy cold festival.

For a true winter wonderland experience, you’ll want to visit the Hoshino Resort Tomamu ice village and hotel, which is open for just a few weeks from January 20 to February 28 at Shimukappu Village in Hokkaido. The temperatures in Shimukappu can drop down to a frigid -30 degrees Celsius, the ideal climate for a hotel made entirely of ice. Aside from the gorgeous ice hotel, there’s a complete wintry village with a special ice convenience store, ice bar, skating rink and zip-lining experience.

Just a 30-minute drive south of Sapporo sits the Sapporo Art Forest (Geimori) where you'll find this icy affair that takes over the area in the winter. This year's ice forest festivites take place from January 13 to March 3 and feature an Ice Dining Bar and outdoor sauna. The Ice Dining Bar is particularly stunning, covered completely in snow and ice where you can enjoy grilled dishes, nabe hotpot, warm drinks and original cocktails served in ice glasses.

Niigata prefecture’s Tsunan is one of Japan’s snowiest destinations and celebrates its flurries of snow with an annual festival. The Tsunan Snow Festival is scheduled to take place on March 9. You can enjoy snow slides and food stalls, but the biggest spectacle is the sky lantern event at the New Greenpia Tsunan resort.

Hokkaido’s port city of Otaru hosts an annual snow festival every February, and it sure is a showstopper. Known as the Otaru Snow Light Path Festival, the city's streets are illuminated with hundreds of lights and snow statues. We particularly love the view of the floating lights along Otaru’s main canal, which runs near the trendy Warehouse District. Mark your calendars for this season’s festival from February 10 to 17.

Head to Tochigi prefecture and you'll find a magical winter wonderland at the Yunishigawa Kamakura Festival, which will be held from January 26 to February 25 this year. The snowy festival takes place annually and showcases hundreds of illuminated mini snow huts known as kamakura. You can stroll through the kamakura, which are set up around the Sawaguchi riverbed at Yunishigawa Onsen. Stick around until evening as the kamakura will be lit up from 5.30pm.

The Yuki no Otani Festival (or Snow Corridor Festival) takes place along the spectacular Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in Toyama prefecture and offers some pretty incredible scenery. It happens a little later than other snow festivals – from April 15 to June 25 this year – as the route doesn’t open until spring. But it's definitely worth the wait. The highlight of the festival is the snow walk, which gives you the chance to stroll through the area’s impressive 20-metre-high snow walls.

The annual Oirase Ice Falls Tour in Aomori prefecture is like a journey into a winter fairytale. This bus tour takes you through the Oirase Gorge in Towada Hachimantai National Park, which stretches between Lake Towada and Yakeyama. The waterfalls in the gorge freeze over during winter and turn into stunning clusters of icicles known as icefalls. Tours are available both during the day and in the evening. But the evening tour is the one to go for as the icicles are illuminated with colourful lights. Tours run until March 10.

While there’s not a whole lot of snow and ice in Tokyo, you can visit a remarkable frozen icicle forest just outside the city at the annual Ashigakubo Icicles event. The chilly event takes place in Chichibu, only an hour and a half from central Tokyo, and is filled with massive icicles created by spraying water from a nearby stream into the cold winter air. During the evening, the frozen formations are also lit up with colourful lights, giving the entire area a whimsical feel. Ashigakubo Icicles is held until February 25 this year.