Export Promotion Team

The 63rd Sapporo Snow Festival will be held from February 6th through 12th. The Sapporo Snow Festival, one of Japan’s largest winter events, attracts a growing number of visitors from both Japan and abroad every year. Each winter, approximately two million people come to Sapporo to see the hundreds of beautiful snow statues and crystal-like ice sculptures. Tourism in Sapporo and the Sapporo Snow Festival were promoted at the Hokkaido Business Meeting which was convened in Hong Kong last November. Lots of tourists visit Sapporo especially from East Asia. The Festival is staged on three sites: the Odori Site, Susukino Site and Tsu Dome Site.







The Sapporo Snow Festival does not only please your eyes with massive snow statues and elaborate ice sculptures but it also delights your taste buds. During the festival period, many food stalls line up in the Odori Site. The food stalls feature Hokkaido’s local cuisine using fresh and delicious ingredients. In winter in Sapporo, temperature drops below 0 degrees Celsius. Although it is very cold, eating warm food outdoors is fun and the food is rather more scrumptious! Once you step into the winter dreamland, you will discover a food lover’s paradise.

Sapporo’s cumulative annual snowfall exceeds six meters (about twenty feet). There is no other city in the world with a population of approximately1.9 million that accumulates such a significant amount of snow per year. Although the snow can be a hindrance in many ways, there are also various avenues for Sapporo residents to enjoy the climate, including the annual Snow Festival and variety of winter sports. Furthermore Sapporo’s tap water has an excellent reputation in Japan for its superior quality. Thawed snow from the Shikotsu-Toya National Park is one of the sources of Sapporo’s water supply. In this way, the precipitation that comes in the form of heavy snows makes an invaluable contribution to Sapporo’s water resources.







The main symbol of MOERENUMA Park, which was designed by the world famous sculptor Isamu Noguchi, is the majestic Glass Pyramid. The Glass Pyramid uses a unique snow cooling system. During the winter months, snow is stored in the neighboring storage building and is then used to cool the facility during the summer months. This environment-friendly system contributes to reducing CO2 and electricity rate.

In this manner, snow gives us many blessings: enjoying winter sports and snow-related events and benefiting from a plentiful supply of fresh water which is an essential resource to produce delicious local food and dishes of Hokkaido. We deeply appreciate the blessings from snow…

A happy new year! As we ushered in the new year 2012, I imagine many readers of this blog have decided their new year’s resolution. The year 2012 is the year of the dragon, so I would like to move
forward vigorously as the dragon soars up into the sky. The members of the Export Promotion Team have renewed their commitments to promoting Hokkaido products, which leads to future export to Asia.

Have you watched the promotional video titled “COOL AND HOT HOKKAIDO” on our website http://www.sec.or.jp/simple/trans_e/index.html? The video colorfully and dynamically showcases Hokkaido’s high quality seafood caught in its cold waters and the agricultural products grown on its wide farmlands as well as delicious sweets made from locally-produced safe and fresh ingredients. The pictures on the screen also attract viewers with the Hokkaido’s grand nature. Why don’t you come and taste whole Hokkaido?





If you have any inquiries regarding importing Hokkaido products, please feel free to contact us at asia@sec.or.jp.

We hope the new year will bring you good luck and happiness.