Eighty-plus ice sculptors from host Japan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Russia, Estonia, France, Germany, Taiwan and the United States are taking part in the Karuizawa Ice Sculpture International Contest '98, which will run through Sunday.

The sculptors, who teamed up into 42 pairs, started carving at 10 a.m. Each team must complete a sculpture within 22 hours, using 15 ice blocks, each measuring 1.5 meters high and 40 centimeters wide.

The winning pair will be awarded 300,000 yen.

The ice sculptures carved by the artists will be shown at the contest venue at Yagasaki Park near JR Karuizawa Station until Sunday.

Karuizawa, which lies on the eastern edge of Nagano Prefecture on a plain 1,000 meters above sea level, will host the curling events during the Feb. 7-22 Winter Games.

(Kyodo News)