The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces’ 11th Brigade crafted an epic monument to the Dark Side at a Japanese Snow Festival. The sculpture was built in the span of a month, using bulldozers to move over 3,500 tons of snow.
The Sapporo Snow Festival, which attracts over two million visitors, is celebrating it’s 66th year. The Japanese military has been participating in the festival for over 60 years, as a team-building exercise.
The 75 ft wide and 50 ft tall sculpture depicts Darth Vader and his Imperial forces, complete with a posse of Storm Troopers and TIE fighters.
Obviously, it was sponsored by Disney to promote the next installment of the Star Wars franchise, which hits theaters in December.
Ignoring corporate sponsorship, this is an impressive piece of snow art. As if we’d only hear about Star Wars VII because of a snow sculpture in Japan….
Was in the military on Hokkaido for 3 years about 30 klicks SE of Sapporo. Got to see all of this first hand and up close. Great view from the observation platform on the TV tower in Sapporo!
This is rad!
Awesome!! Just finished watching the original.