Each year the Snowmen of the Hakkoda Mountains line up like an icy army ready to march down and take over Japan, as hundreds of snowy forms populate the slopes of this winter wonderland.
Some see them as frozen monsters, others think of them as ghosts made solid by the frosty air, but they're actually fir trees covered in a thick blanket of snow.
Photographer Sho Shibata likes to explore the Hakkodas in the dead of winter and shoot pictures of the bleak beauty all around him, but since this range is so remote he makes sure to bring a few friends along for the trek.
-Via Travel and Leisure