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Ice art is a form of art where an artist makes sculptures using ice as the raw material. Sculptures from ice can be abstract or realistic and can be functional or purely decorative. Ice sculptures are generally associated with special or extravagant events because of their limited lifetime.

The lifetime of a sculpture is determined primarily by the temperature of its environment and thus, a sculpture can last from mere minutes to possibly months. Japan witnesses a lot of snowfall, which thus makes it a ideal place to get ice-sculpting as an hobby or profession at an early age.

In Japan the ice-sculpting art or the ice art is mainly carried out in the city of Sapporo on the island of Hokkaid?. the place is also famous for its winter carnival, in which teams compete to create ice sculptures. Some of these creations are the size of multiple-story buildings. Japanese sculptors have made many contributions to the art. Notable Japanese ice sculptors include Yukio Matsuo, author of “Ice Sculpture: Secrets of a Japanese Master,” Mitsuo Shimizu, author of several Japanese books on ice sculpture, and Junichi Nakamura, winner of multiple world ice sculpting titles. Ice sculpture has been popular in Japan since the 1930s and an early advocate and teacher in the country was Shuko Kobayashi, the first chairman of the Japan Ice Sculpture Association.

In Japan the Ice-art is synonyms with the annual Sapporo Snow festival, which started in 1950. the festival has over 250 ice sculptures which are built in the outdoors under sub zero temperature. Yet this bone-chilling condition is heartily welcomed by the spectators as well as artists from around the world. The sculptures cover a broad range of subjects from cartoon characters and Japanese sports icons to complex architectural feats.

Even one can find actual hotels and resorts completely build out of ice. An ice hotel is a temporary hotel made up of snow, sculpted blocks of ice, and some steel framing. They are promoted by their sponsors and have special features for travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments, and thus are in the class of destination hotels. Their lobbies are often filled with ice sculptures, and food and beverages are specially chosen for the circumstances. All of the ice hotels are reconstructed every year, and are dependent upon constant sub-freezing temperatures during construction and operation. The walls, fixtures, and fittings are made entirely of ice, and are held together using a substance known as since, which takes the place of mortar in a traditional brick-built hotel.