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The Snow Crystal Museum of Asahikawa is a curious place; a quaint, quiet museum dedicated entirely to snowflakes, set in a small European style castle building complete with turrets. The museum originally belonged to the Hokkaido Folk Arts and Crafts Village, which was also home to the Yukara Ori Craft Museum and the International Dyeing and Weaving Art Museum, both of which are sadly now permanently closed. Japan is famous for these super focused museums, and the humble charm of this museum has caught the eye of a number of international travelers throughout the years.
![The Snow Crystal Museum]()
The Snow Crystal Museum
The museum itself features a room filled with snow facts celebrating the uniqueness of snowflakes, an art gallery home to art inspired by snowflakes, a library with books for kids and adults alike and little television screens where visitors can learn about snowflakes, as well as a gift shop with various snow related trinkets including specially designed kimonos with designs influenced by shapes of snowflakes. Guests of the snow museum also have the opportunity to have commemorative pictures taken in a studio, and can enjoy a nice relaxing meal at the café whilst soothing classical piano music plays to a backdrop of fake snow in the summer months, and the real deal when weather permits.
![The Snow Crystal Museum]()
The Snow Crystal Museum
Walking into the museum feels akin to being whisked out of reality and walking through a real life winter wonderland fairytale as you must first go down a spiral of stairs laced with metal snowflakes that lead to a water fountain where you can toss a coin in for good fortune, followed by a passageway leading to a set of grand doors guarded by two impressive statues of powerful looking women, whilst artificial snowflakes are a consistent decorative presence throughout.
![The Snow Crystal Museum]()
The Snow Crystal Museum
Once through the grandiose doors, guests traverse what is known as the corridor of ice, which in turn leads to the Music Hall used for concerts, weddings, lectures, and other events – a beautiful setting for any occasion with the lovely oil painted sky covering the entirety of the ceiling proving an especially impressive feature.
![The Snow Crystal Museum]()
The Snow Crystal Museum
Beyond the Music Hall lies the Snow Crystal Room with more than 200 snow crystals filling the room, exhibited to a magical looking backdrop of blue windowpanes. The inspiration for the museum came from research materials of Kobayashi Teisaku, a professor at the Institute of Low Temperature Science at Hokkaido University, who dedicated his life to the study of snow.
![The Snow Crystal Museum]()
The Snow Crystal Museum
With its grand architecture, impressive staircases, and stunning chandeliers, The Snow Crystal Museum feels less like Japan and more like an enchanted European castle ripped straight out of Disney’s Frozen universe and dropped in the middle of Japan’s coldest island. It is sure to provide guests a truly unique experience, and a newfound appreciation for the humble snowflake.
