You know you love powder but do you know Powder Love? According to their facebook page:

"Powder Love Hakuba is a yearly, live-music, DJ and festival style event held both inside and outside of Tracks Bar in Hakuba. The Event will feature a nightclub in the basement of Tracks with a top international DJ line-up, while the first floor will feature live music and performance artists. To add to the good vibes of the event there will also be food stalls and a huge bonfire outside with an icebar , more music, Fire shows , Jump / Jib course and a video projection snow display." ...and plenty of prizes to be won!

Here is a video of last year's jib stars in action:

Live Floor:

デリシャスウィートス Japanese wild show
Swell - Dub Reggae with Jazz infusion
Semi-on - Gypsy Punk Funk
Rawshana Belly Dancers
Anbassa- Reggae
Sabunyuma -African drums and dancers
Very Special Guest
And More ( to be announced )

Club Floor:

 Aron-T . dbi-UK
Mitch 4-the Love ( Australia )
D J Paul T
DJ Mike McKenna from U.K / Dj Seeb from Italy
DJ Dave B　/ DJ Dom Pang / DJ Hirro / DJ HSK
Drew Moon from Australia (Rendered SPACE records)
Big Ted from NZ / DJ Chris Edmeads / DJ DR Juan
Soulza from Brazil
Yanbe Giant Swing - Dance hall Ragga
Jimmy- Techno House

Chill Zone:

Ice Dee Jay set / Snow Bar / Maxime Fire show
VJ show by HEADFUL
Jib and jump course
International Food Stalls

かまくら　(Kamakura) is not just the name of Japan's old capital, but it also means igloo in Japanese. From February 10th to 19th, you can explore a whole mura (village) of Kamakura at the bottom of Hakuba 47. There is a large Kamakura Bar, a Kamakura shrine (see pic above) and many little Kamakura where you can eat and drink with your own circle of friends. On the weekends there will be shops set up selling Okonomiyaki, chijimi, omelletes with fried noodles, hot sake, freshly roasted chest nuts, and more.... We had a Hiroshima Style Seafood Okonomiyaki. It was fresh, hot, tasty, and only ¥500.

O-shogatsu means New Years in Japan, and although this is one of Japan's biggest annual celebrations, there isn't a whole lot of Champagne popping going on. Last night 10 tabi-tabi-ians said goodbye to the new year by eating some toshikoshi soba at The Tonegawa Soba Shop. Toshikoshi means end of the old year and start of the new year. Soba is a bowl of buckwheat noodles served in a hot soy based soup. The long noodles symbolize a long and hopefully healthy life.

After our steamy bowl of noodles, we walked through the old Iimori village to Chogokuji Temple  for Hatsumode (New Year's temple visit). Inside we listened to the Buddhist priest chant and pray for the new year that lay ahead, we then went to a large tatami room where we shared amazake (a sweet non-refined sake) and ate mochi, rice crakers, and tsukemono (pickled veggies).

Once we had our fill, we went outside again to ring the temple bell. Everyone got to have a go at swinging the large pendulum. According to tradition, the bell must be rung 108 times. Each ring represents one of 108 earthly temptations a person must overcome to achieve nirvana. I'm sure, 2012 is going to be a good year!

Akemashite Omedeto! (Happy New year!)