By Tom Bateman
UONUMA, Japan (Reuters) – More than 120 teams battled it out in a snowball fight tournament in a mountainous Japanese city on Sunday, in what the local weather bureau called the coldest air this winter to sweep the country’s northern snow belt.
The 35th annual Koide International Snowball Fight in Uonuma in Niigata Prefecture, roughly 180 km (112 miles) northwest of Tokyo, was the largest event of its kind in Japan, said 29-year-old head judge Takuya Kitsu.
Teams of five players competed in two-minute matches between two teams on a field the size of a tennis court, with points awarded for direct hits with a snowball.
“Put simply, you make snowballs, throw them, score hits and the (team with the) most points wins,” said Kitsu.
In Japan, standardised snowball fighting, known as “Sports Yukigassen”, has players across the country’s heavy-snow areas and boasts an official body that has campaigned to take the sport to the Winter Olympics.
According to the rules published by the Japan Yukigassen Federation, which was not involved in organising Uonuma’s event, players are counted out when hit by a snowball and a team wins once all opponents are out.
“Snowball fighting is originally just a game, so I like that when you give it a competitive side it becomes a high-tension sport you can enjoy,” said 26-year-old Masaki Nakakubo, who travelled from Tokyo to take part in the tournament.
“I think it’s that kind of event where you can feel like a kid again,” said fellow competitor, 28-year-old Chizuru Ofuchi.
Uonuma is deep in Japan’s so-called “Snow Country”, a region that has seen hefty amounts of snowfall every winter. More than three metres (nine feet) of snow had accumulated in the city by Sunday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
“When you look at it from a local’s point of view, the snow can be a nuisance, it’s a hassle,” said Kitsu, an Uonuma native.
“So we hoped we could turn it into something fun by starting these snowball fights.”
The winner of the tournament was awarded 30 kgs (66 pounds) of rice, an Uonuma speciality.
(Reporting by Tom Bateman; Writing by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Michael Perry)
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