Speakers
Description
Against the backdrop of the declining and aging population in Japan, according to data from the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, the total population of Sobetsu Town decreased from 4,123 to 3,473 in the 15 years from 1990 to 2005, a total of 650. At the same time, the number of young people has decreased, and the phenomenon of the elderly population has become more and more obvious. In order to attract more tourists to stay here and maintain the stability of community development. “Yukigassen” event was born in Sobetsu Hokkaido, Japan in 1988. The form of "Yukigassen" is similar to the "snowball fight" game in the world. It has been 30 years since its development, and it has become an international winter sports organization with participation of 11 countries. So far, in the Hokkaido region of Japan, in addition to skiing in winter, the "Yukigassen" has become another winter sports project favored by tourists at home and abroad. Currently, the Yukigassen event has formed two international organizations, which are International Yukigassen Alliance (IAY) and World Sports Yukigassen Federation (WSYF). Since 2018, the international Yukigassen event has targeted its development goal towards competition event of Winter Olympics Games. This study applies the field work as the main method, and conducts several practical investigations in Hokkaido, Japan. The study analyzed the process of the emergence, cultural identity, cultural communication, etc. To study the function and effect of the event on community activation and development.
