Friday, February 11, 2022
On Wednesday, February 9th, in front of Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen, an illumination event featuring ice candles, snow candles, and icicle art was held.
- 1 Ice candle lighting @Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen
- 2 Planning and management: Hokuryu Town Regional Revitalization Cooperation Volunteer, Nobuyuki Murakami
- 3 Thoughts from townspeople
- 4 Other photos
- 5 Related articles
Ice candle lighting @Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen
Right: Nobuyuki Murakami, a local revitalization volunteer, and his assistant Isao Hoshiba. Left: Osamu and Yumi Komatsu
Approximately 70 ice candles, 6 snow candles, and one icicle art piece with a lit red candle in the center were lined up and remained lit for about two hours until the candle flames went out.
Planning and management: Hokuryu Town Regional Revitalization Cooperation Volunteer, Nobuyuki Murakami
The event was planned and managed by Nobuyuki Murakami, a member of the Hokuryu Town Regional Revitalization Cooperation Volunteer Team. We spoke to him about it.
Preparations for this ice candle began a week ago, with 6-7 candles made per day, for a total of around 70 candles.
Ice candle making
Fill a bucket with water and freeze it overnight. It will freeze to a thickness of about 3cm around the outside of the bucket. Turn the bucket upside down to remove the ice, then turn it over and poke a hole in the bottom to complete the process.
To light it, we set up a cut plastic bottle to block the wind and lit the candle.
Snow candle making
Snow candles are made by putting snow in a bucket, placing a 1.8L bottle in the center, and then filling the area with snow and pressing it down.
Making icicles
The icicles were made by breaking off large icicles that hang down from the roof of the boiler room at Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen.
Thanks to the townspeople for their donations and help
Candles and plastic bottles: Donations from Hokoji Temple, Zenrinji Temple, and Seico Mart
We asked two temples in Hokuryu Town, Hokoji and Zenrinji, for help with donating candles, and they kindly agreed. Seico Mart provided us with a large number of plastic bottles!
Helping and assisting Mr. and Mrs. Komatsu Osamu and Yumi
The jeans were brought by Mr. and Mrs. Komatsu Osamu and Yumi, who helped with today's lighting starting two hours before it began.
Assistance from Isao Hoshiba
In addition, Isao Hoshiba, director of the NPO Bright Farming, will also be helping out!
Frozen Jeans
Jeans can be frozen overnight at -15°C after about two minutes of dehydration. However, this time the outdoor temperature did not reach that low, so they did not freeze. Therefore, we used the freezer at Sunflower Park Hokuryu Onsen (-30°C) and they froze in about an hour and a half.
It was really great that the townspeople cooperated in many ways. This event was planned using the experience we gained from a previous event in Teshio Town.
Candlelight makes you feel bright and cheerful!
Recently, there have been a lot of dark stories about the coronavirus, so we decided to do this with the hope of lighting a light in Hokuryu Town and bringing some cheer.
This year, it will be a trial run, held today and tomorrow (February 9th and 10th). If we have candles left in stock, we are also thinking of holding it for an additional 2-3 days next week.
Starting next year, we plan to designate a candle day and ask for the cooperation of local residents in making candles. For example, I would like to light ice candles in front of each household's entrance, and brighten up the whole town," says an enthusiastic Murakami.
Thoughts from townspeople
Residents who see the candles on their way to and from Hokuryu Onsen smile and say, "They're lovely. I've been to the Snow Festival and other events, but this is the first time I've seen actual ice candles in town like this. It really warms my heart."
The soft light that shines from the transparent ice flickers gently, enveloping the hearts of those who see it with a gentle warmth. These ice and snow candles are filled with limitless love, gratitude and prayers.
Other photos
Related articles
◇ Photography and editing: Noboru Terauchi Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi
