There's Now A Giant 'Star Wars' Snow Sculpture In Japan

We all know Darth Vader is one of the coldest villains to ever hit our movie screens. Now we have visual proof.

Like something right out of Hoth, this year's Sapporo Snow Festival features a massive snow sculpture of Darth Vader with a team of stormtroopers and a couple of TIE Fighters behind him. Even as a vision in white, Darth Vader still looks eerily sinister.

The sculpture, deemed "Snow Star Wars," helped open the annual winter event on Feb. 5, which runs until Feb. 11. This icy art is sponsored by Disney, and is a ginormous promotion for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, which hits theaters on Dec. 18. Yeah, because if we didn't have photos of this huge sculpture making its rounds on the Internet, this little movie totally would have gotten lost in the shuffle.

With a project this big, you've got to use the force to make it happen, or should I say forces? The 11th Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force erected the snow sculpture using bulldozers and manpower. Since 1955, the Japanese military has actually been a big part of the Sapporo Snow Festival, building sculptures up to 15 meters, or 50 feet, tall as a training exercise, according to Quartz. It took the army almost a month to shape 3,500 tons of snow into the sculpture that stands today.

The Sapporo Snow Festival is one of Japan's most popular winter events with two million visitors per year and more than 200 ice and snow sculptures on display. If there's an event that's Instagram- and Twitter-worthy, it's this one. Take a look at some of the best pics of the Star Wars snow sculpture so far.

Darth Vader would be pleased.

Image: kiki5yh / Instagram