Manila Cathedral featured in Japan ice sculpture festival

Rowie Agustin / Facebook

MANILA — A snow sculpture of the 400-year-old Manila Cathedral has been featured in this year’s 66th Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, Japan, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said on Friday.

DOT said that Hokkaido’s seven-day festival transforms Sapporo into a glittering world of snow and ice sculptures of some of the most famous architectural wonders of historical significance from around the world.

The festival kicked off on Thursday (Feb. 5) and will run until Feb. 11 (Wednesday). It is one of country’s largest winter events, expected to draw more than two million visitors this year.

Aside from the Manila Cathedral, other architectural wonders featured in the festival include Taiwan’s Hsing Tian Kong Temple, Nara, Japan’s Middle Gate of Kasuga Taisha Shrine, among others.

The sculptures were built by some 400 Japanese army troops who volunteered to sculpt the creations in only about a month’s worth of time.

According to the organizers of the festival, Japanese military has been participating in festival since 1955, and considers the process of building sculptures up to 50 feet-tall a training exercise.

“The Philippines is honored to be featured in this year’s 66th Sapporo Snow Festival,” the DOT posted on its social media accounts, Twitter and Instagram.

“Thank you for the love, Japan!” it said.