tokiwa park

OK this review is a year and some overdue. We went to the Asahikawa snow festival last year in February with my kids (7 and 8 then) and my mom. Most people flock to the Sapporo Snow Festival because it's better known, but Asahikawa is a gem for families with kids. The festival times are staggered, so you can manage to see Sapporo and then Asahikawa. But things are much calmer and cheaper in Asahikawa. First of all, as you get off the train, try walking along the main street. The names are hard to remember but it's a small city so you really can't miss the main street. When we were there they had the ice sculpture competition and it was amazing! You could see the artists around the world at work! And it was just as fun as the snow sculptures in Sapporo (I didn't even know there was a difference between ice sculpture and snow sculptures before). I think they have the competition every year. Then off to Tokiwa park. The park isn't hard to find, but you need to walk into the park for the festivities. The pathways are decorated with mini snowmen built by different people. At night there are lanterns so it's quite a sight. At the park there are LOTS of activities for the kids. If you happen to be there on a weekday or a little later in the night, there are practical no lines. But the best thing there is the 100 meter long ice slide. This is NOT something you find elsewhere, especially not in the US where people are worried about lawsuits and what not. I went on it once but frankly speed isn't my thing, but my son went nuts. We were there for three days (one more day than planned because we were snowed in) and for all three he went on the slide, again and again and again. Sometimes the lines were long but other times there was no line. It really was a little boy's dream. Later I realized that he had snow trapped everywhere, in his jacket, in his pants, his gloves and it must have been miserable, but no matter, he was willing to suffer cold and hunger just to go on the slides, again and again, like maybe 20 times a day. So a note to parents here: you'll see the Japanese kids ALL dressed up in one piece snow suits with boot coverings, which is the smart thing to do. So either bring one from home, or get a high quality one (albeit probably expensive) in Japan. Otherwise when they play in the snow because of how much snow there is it has a tendency to ride up their pants, which happened to us everyday. For younger children, there are shorter slides and snow statues everywhere, and a tire slide. There is also food at the park. Because it's a small town, things tend to close early, but every restaurant we went to, whether bustling with people, or practically empty, high end, or low end, all had really superb food. Even the 7-11 had savory offerings, so for families who just want to turn in after a day of play, there are plenty of options to choose from, and pretty much all on the main street not far from the train station. Needless to say, this was a trip that my kids will remember for a long time. And another bonus is that most Chinese mainlanders (my cohort) don't know about this place yet so very very few of them will travel up this far north, so you avoid the herd of tourists that you saw in Sapporo, but I did post pictures on wechat so you may see some of my friends there in subsequent years, but I'd always added a note on local customs so they are more enlightened than your average Chinese tourist.