The mountaintops to the west are buried in several meters of snow. At night the temps in town are dipping well below zero. Yes, winter has taken over our world again – but we’re not hibernating, we’re celebrating, with a few new twists to an annual event. Welcome to the 2022 Matsumoto Castle Ice Sculpture Festival! Breaking the Ice The fun began last Friday evening as dark descended on the town. In front of the train station and Nawate Street, at the Hana-Tokei (“Flower Clock”) Park and on the grounds of Matsumoto Castle, artists wielded chisels and chainsaws, turning rectangular blocks of ice into works of shapely, frozen splendor. These […]