Japanese Snow Festival Begins

Japan's famous open-air snow festival kicked off in Sapporo on Thursday, with 290 ice sculptures on display made from thousands of tons of snow.

Some of the sculptures are as high as fifteen meters, while others impress locals and visitors because they look so close to the real thing.

Like this icy model of Frauenkirche, a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany, which was destroyed in the firebombing during World War II.

"They are really great. I was quite overwhelmed."

"They are very skillfully created."

Once the sun went down, the sculptures took on a whole new look, with colored lights bringing the designs to life.

Preparations for the week-long festival began around a month ago.

And despite today's dazzling displays, the festival had humble origins, beginning in 1950 when a group of high school students built six snow statues in a park.