Winter Olympics: Snowball Fights?
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
Snowball fights are a popular childhood pastime in many Northern countries around the world. But, in Sobetsu, Hokkaido, Japan, snowball fights, in Japanese, yukigassen, are a major sports event, attracting teams from throughout Japan and abroad, as well as corporate sponsors.
The 37th Showa-Shinzan International Yukigassen this year featured more than 1,000 helmet-clad warriors in 118 teams hurling snowballs at one other. The champions were a team from northern Hokkaido, called NMT.
So, how does it work?
There are seven players in a team, and play takes place on a field about a third of the size of a football pitch, with a flag near either end and low walls where players can take cover. Each team gets 90 snowballs per set, which lasts three minutes.
Winning a set is achieved by capturing the opposing team’s flag or hitting all its players with snowballs. The first team to win two sets wins the match.
Since 180 flying snowballs must be monitored, eight referees are required for each match.
Snowball fights’ events have been taking place in Sobetsu since 1989. Previously, the community had thrived on tourists, who were drawn to its hot springs, but, when Mount Usu, the local volcano, erupted in 1977, that source of income began to decline. Therefore, snowball fights were seen as a way of filling that gap and reviving the community.
In 2013, enthusiasts set up the International Alliance of Sports Yukigassen to raise the level of competition and to spread the game around the world.
The Japanese are hopeful that, one day, snowball fights will become an Olympic Winter Sports event.
‘On verra’, as they say in French!
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
