King Kameamea
And don’t even think about complaining about the pun in today’s title — it’s what I do.
O beautiful, for spacious skies ...
 I think this was an American entry — but what would have been my first clue? While you’re here, check out the small figure at the bottom left of the statue. Where have we seen this before? We’ll get a better look on another day.
Look at the detail!
This one just absolutely amazed me. I don’t know to what extent they were allowed to use frameworks, but what you see is really snow.
Big Bird
 Sesame street is big in Japan. Check out Big Bird and friends in this display. I remember becoming so tired of hearing nothing but Japanese during a road trip I took in Japan that I longed to hear anything at all in English. So I kept tuning my radio until I found something, and, lo and behold, it was Sesame Street to the rescue! Brought to you by the letter “J.”
A more traditional scene
Another amazing scene.
Banii gaaru
This was strange but not unique; there were several of these miniature “frozen rooms.” The caption below, which you may not be able to see in this photo, says “banii gaaru,” which is Japanese phonetic for the English phrase, “bunny girl.”
A blending of cultures
Unless I am mistaken, this temple in Sapporo demonstrates the blending of Shintoism with Buddhism.  The torii gate is the Shinto gate into the detached world where the Shinto temple is supposed to exist, while the golden figure just inside the gate seems clearly Buddhist to me. Maybe someone can set me straight if I am in error about this — I’m not exactly an expert on Buddhism. But Americans who have seen the familiar sight of a Gideon’s Bible in a hotel room may be interested to know that it is not unusual to find a book about the Buddha in Japanese hotel rooms, and you may well find it written in English, as well!
