On my way to the Makomanai site, I was constantly reminded by signs and posters that it was accessible from the Jietai Mae (literally "Before the Self-Defense Force") subway station and not Makomanai station. As the name of the nearest subway station implied, the Makomanai site was actually located inside an army camp, but the place looked more like a fairground at the time.
I had to pass through metal detectors and have my bag checked before entering, but at least the whole process was speedy and I didn’t have to wait long before I was allowed inside the sprawling campground. Located near the ubiquitous snack and souvenir stands was a portable ATM operating inside a truck, the first of its kind I had ever seen.
The five large snow sculptures at the site were roughly arranged in a line, most of them equipped with larger versions of the ice-lined slides at Odori. I queued for the largest slide at the Friends of the North radial slide (20m long!) but gave up after about 3 minutes, since the line was hopelessly long and it was clear that I would have to wait at least another 30 minutes in the freezing weather. Instead I wandered over to take a look at the rest of the sculptures.
The main draw was the snow stage featuring the Taj Mahal, which was also elaborately done. On it was the same US Army band that I had seen just the day before, playing the same songs with yet another breathless-sounding announcer to introduce them. The remaining three sculptures all depicted popular children’s cartoon characters like Shimajiro, Doraemon and Aozora. Needless to say, all three of them had slides for the kids too.
Besides the usual police presence that was also seen at the Odori and Susukino sites, there were military officers standing around to ensure order, help kids into the slides, and describe their snow sculptures to any interested tourists, which they were happy to do over and over again. At least the few weeks leading to the end of the Snow Festival allowed the soldiers a welcome respite from the drudgery of their daily training.