Sounkyo Onsen, Sounkyo hot spring, is a small hot spring town with population about 300 people at the foot of Daisetsuzan National Park. Sounkyo Onsen is in one of the coldest area in Hokkaido.
It might not be the easiest place to get to and it takes about 110 minutes by bus from Asahikawa. When you go from Sapporo, first you go to Asahikawa by train and transfer to Kamikawa station where is nearest station from Sounkyo. Then you take bus from Kamikawa to Sounkyo Onsen. Or you can take bus from Asahikawa. Some hotels in Sounkyo Onsen provide free buses for visitors.
I strongly recommend you to stay at least one night at hotels around Sounkyo Onsen. There are a several reasons, one is because I recommend you to see the festival twice; at the daytime and in the evening with illuminations. The Ice illumination with light of seven colors is very beautiful and it is one the best part of the festival. Since there is no bus at night, you must stay if you want to see the illumination. Another reason is that you might want to try the nice hot spring of Daisetszan Mountains. Since the festival site is very cold, you will need to be warm at hot spring.
Sounkyo Ice Water Festival is held at side of Ishikari River. The area of festival site is more than 10,000 square meters. The festival is usually held about two month, from later part of January to March. Amazing things is that those snow sculptures and buildings are all man-made. It takes 2 months while working 24 hours a day to finish all the sculptures. The water of Ishikari River is used in the making of the sculptures, making it a real local festival. Believe it or not, the minimum temperature of Sounkyo Onsen area sometime become under -20℃.
There are about 30 ice sculptures and ice made buildings, including huge ice tunnel, ice bar, and ice made slider. The main ice sculpture is about 13m tall and you can see the festival site from on the top of it. There is also an ice made little shrine called Hyobaku Jinjya. Visitors pray there and put coins on ice as money offerings.
During the festival, there are many fun events such as Japanese drum show, and traditional dance by Ainu people who are native in Hokkaido. On the weekend, you can also see fireworks. Local foods are available and you can also drink sake at ice bar. Since the events are held for a long term, you can enjoy without much crowding.
Don’t forget to wrap yourself up well to stay warm. Sounkyo isn’t a popular place like Sapporo, but if you want to visit somewhere not too crowded with tourist, Sounkyo is good place to visit. If you want to stay longer, there are some more sightseeing spots like Daistszan National Park. I hope you will have a chance to visit Sounkyo in winter!
All photos are from official website of Sounkyo Tourist Association
http://www.sounkyo.net/
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