In the U.S., it’s pretty common to find three-ball snowmen with rocks making up the eyes and mouth, carrot noses, and sticks for arms during wintertime.
But when snow falls in Japan, the country’s residents see it as a chance to create astonishing masterpieces you’d never want to melt. On January 22, a rare snowstorm hit Tokyo, prompting authorities to issue the first snow warning in four years. Highways were closed, cars were stranded, andtrains, buses, and flights cancelled. But despite all the problems caused by the heavy snowfall, at least one good thing came out of it — all the creative, beautiful, and incredible snow sculptures.
You’ll probably recognize some of your favorite characters in these 20 snowy creations from past years and the 2018 Tokyo storm. They make our snowmen look absolutely pitiful in comparison!
1. Snoopy
2. Fitting, don’t you think?
3. Totoro
4. Miffy, a.k.a. Nijntje
5. Eevee
6. Hamtaro
7. Jabba the Hutt
8. Minions
9. Maneki-neko
10. And here we have the elusive snow panda.
11. Mario
12. Lightning McQueen
13. Godzilla
14. Kodama
15. Totoro
16. Baymax and Olaf
17. I’ll trade snowmen for this snow pupper any day!
18. Catbus
19. Mike Wazowski
20. Hatsune Miku
(via Bored Panda)