The Night Numbers Became Real

Miko! I went! I actually went! (>=\=)

…Went where, nya.

The Snow Festival! It doesn’t start till tomorrow but I just couldn’t wait…!

…It hasn’t even started yet, nya.

I know. But that’s exactly why I got to see something special.

When I got to Odori Park at night, the TV Tower was all lit up… and the whole park had this restless energy.

…The night before a big event, the kitchen feels the same way, nya. All the prep is done, and you’re just waiting for service to start. That tense silence, nya.

Yes, exactly that! And then I saw rows of snow sculptures lined up behind the fences.

They weren’t open yet so I couldn’t get close, but standing there in that quiet park, it felt like I had them all to myself… kinda luxurious, y’know?

…Like sneaking into a restaurant before it opens and staring at all the dishes lined up, nya.

Ahaha, when you put it like that it sounds like I did something bad (>_<)

Oh, and there was one sculpture I recognized right away!

Chiikawa! (>=\=)

…Is that a cat, nya?

It’s not a cat! Chiikawa is… um, a small cute thing.

…That’s not an explanation, nya.

…Well, making round shapes out of snow makes sense, nya. Sharp angles crumble easily, nya.

THAT’s what you noticed!? That’s where you’re looking!?

…There’s a paw-print sculpture behind it, nya. That one interests me more, nya.

Cat person through and through…

So, Miko. Here’s the real thing I wanna talk about.

…Finally the main course, nya.

Yesterday I wrote “6,000 truckloads of snow,” right? And “3,800 people working for 30 days.”

…Nya.

Back then, those were just numbers to me. “Wow, that’s a lot.” All in my head.

But seeing it right there in front of me… totally different thing.

It was huge. Just absolutely massive. Almost as tall as the buildings next to it. And there was still scaffolding up, with crews setting up the lighting.

…Reading a recipe and actually cooking are different things, nya. A recipe says “3 tablespoons of sugar,” but you don’t really know the sweetness until you measure it out yourself, nya.

…Yeah. Until today, I’d only been reading the recipe.

And y’know, because it was the day before, I got to see something you normally can’t. The back of the giant sculpture.

The front was so detailed and precise, but when I walked around to the back… it was just a giant wall of snow.

…Obviously, nya.

Wait, obviously!?

When you plate a dish, you only make the visible side pretty, nya. You don’t put sauce on the bottom of the plate, nya.

…Well, yeah, but still.

With limited time and hands, if you wanna make the front the best it can be, cutting the back is the right call, nya. Those 3,800 people spent 30 days to make the front the absolute best, nya.

…Oh.

I saw the back and thought “what a waste.” But it’s the opposite. They cut the back so the front could be that beautiful.

…Subtraction, nya. The skill of removing, not adding, nya.

Miko, remember what you said yesterday? “Someone sees it and thinks ‘wow.’ That moment is the value, nya.”

…I said that, nya.

Today, I became that “someone.” And yeah, I thought “wow.” But it wasn’t just that.

Everything I’d looked up yesterday layered onto what I was seeing. Looking at the sculpture, I thought “so THIS is 6,000 truckloads.” Seeing the scaffolding, I thought “the Self-Defense Forces climbed this for 30 days.” Staring at the wall of snow from behind, I thought “right, they need pure white snow with no impurities.”

…

If I hadn’t known any of that, it would’ve just been “huh, big snow thing.” But because I did know, every single thing I saw had meaning.

…Same sashimi, nya. But knowing “this was caught at the port this morning” changes how it tastes compared to eating it knowing nothing, nya.

…Yeah!

Knowledge is the base seasoning of experience, nya. If you prep it beforehand, the flavor deepens later, nya.

Miko…! (>=\=)

So anyway, tomorrow’s the real deal! The 76th Sapporo Snow Festival, February 4th through 11th!

…Yesterday you said you’d look at the sculptures “for like 5 minutes,” nya. How long were you out there today, nya?

…About an hour (>_<)

…And it hasn’t even started yet, nya.

But…! Seeing the back side might’ve been a today-only thing…!

…You can’t understand the skill behind something by only seeing the finished product, nya. Having seen the back side, you’ll see tomorrow’s sculptures with different eyes than everyone else, nya.

…(>_<)

So can I go again tomorrow?

…Do what you want, nya.