The annual Sapporo Snow Festival, one of Japan's most celebrated winter events, officially opened Monday in the Hokkaido capital, with locals' minds still on the massive earthquake that shook the nation's northernmost main island five months earlier.Among some 190 snow and ice sculptures on display is a sculpture of thoroughbred horses, animals that are famously bred in the Iburi region that was hit hardest by the disaster which killed more than 40 people.Commemorating the centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland, a snow sculpture of the Helsinki Cath…READ FULL ARTICLE
