Rice sledding, a familiar snow activity for Hokkaido natives, is sledding made from rice bags. The Hokkaido Rice Sledding Championship, which has evolved this rice sledding into a sport, was held for the first time at Takino Snow World in February 2021. This year, the venue will be moved to Sapporo Teine Ski Resort.

The appeal of rice sledding is that it can be enjoyed by people of all ages and genders, it is environmentally friendly because it reuses rice bags that would otherwise be thrown away, and it is fun to use your ingenuity to make your own sledding. A total of 400 people are expected to participate this year. They will compete in a sledding race, with the grand prize being one sack of rice.

■Number of entries: 400 in total: 200 for Kids/Junior Class (ages 5 to elementary school) and 200 for General Class (junior high school and above)