Shiramine in the evening!
It was one of the coldest
days of winter!

 
It takes about about one hour to drive to the village from Kanazawa. This winter, we got more snow than expected, even in Kanazawa. I had gone to some ski resorts around the mountains for snowboarding, so I kind of knew how much snow to expect. However, Shiramine is located 20 minutes further out, almost at the prefectural border. I couldn’t have predicted what we would find! 
As we were arriving, we could see three-meter-high snow walls along route 157. However, we were impressed to see that the streets had been cleared! In Kanazawa, it was still tough to drive on the smaller streets due to the lack of shoveling. I guess they’re really prepared for winter!
 

A population of less than 800!
Feel free to join in the fun!

 
We parked by following the instructions from the village people. You have to pay 500 yen for parking, but they give you a food ticket and a discount coupon for the hot spring. Can’t complain! P2037159_600.jpgAs soon as we arrived at the heart of the village, we went to the bathroom and got some warm food. There was quite a bit of snow to walk through! You should prepare a warm jacket and a pair of pants you don’t mind getting dirty, like ski clothes. It's really cold as you walk through these mountain areas at night! 
Though the village is maze-like for visitors, they give you a lovely map. The map was really useful for finding our way back to the parking lot. 

Shiramine has a population of less than 800 (recorded in December, 2011). I don't think it's possible for all the residents to make at least one snowman. After all, Shiramine is also one of those villages that suffers from a decrease in population. It must be difficult for the older people to make the snowmen. We could talk to two of them in the midst of the festival. "The original concept was to have each family make one showcase, containing as many snowmen as they have family members. It’s become quite difficult recently." They said. "So how could you make so many Yuki-daruma?" I asked.
"Well... actually we ask university students from other regions like Kanazawa to volunteer, to help us make them." They continued. I suppose that makes sense. I hope that they can keep the village alive and keep the adorable festival forever!
 

 

Let's check the face of the snowmen! Some are very traditional, some are pretty novel!

 
When I saw the first snowman there, I was kind of surprised to see how it looked, actually! It had a Japanese-style animated face. "Interesting!" It turned out that there were a variety of styles, from traditional faces to novel ones. Some were huge, others tiny! Some snowmen were single, others were in a group.