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Residents of a Japanese town have the world speed record for snowmen. Citizens at the Iiyama Snow Festival in Nagano 1,585 of the snowy fellows in one hour to the new mark. Around 630 people part in the record attempt. The previous record 1,279 snowmen, set in Utah, USA in 2011. The event in Iiyama Town with the opening of a new train station for Japan's famous bullet train. Justin Patterson, the adjudicator from the official Guinness World Records organisation, the event had a wonderful occasion. He said: "Despite Iiyama being buried in snow, it is wonderful that the residents came out to the challenge together in a positive light."

There were strict rules to be for the record to be broken. One was that each snowman to be at least 80 cm tall. In addition the snowmen had to be of three separate snowballs, with eyes, a nose and arms. People used only their hands in the record-breaking endeavour. Committee member Jiro Kobayashi Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper that the event was fitting for the of the bullet train station. He said: "We were able to the record thanks to the cooperation of many people. We the feat will [the celebratory atmosphere of] the opening of the Shinkansen's Iiyama Station." Ichika Oguchi, 8, said: "It was tough because the snow didn’t together, but I fun."