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Residents of a town in Japan have broken the world record for building snowmen. Around 630 citizens at the Iiyama Snow Festival made 1,585 snowmen in one hour to set the new mark. The previous record was 1,279 snowmen, set in 2011. The event coincided with the opening of a new bullet train station. Justin Patterson, the judge from the Guinness World Records organisation, said the event was a wonderful occasion. He said: "Despite Iiyama being buried in snow, it is wonderful that the residents came out to tackle the challenge together in a positive light."

There were strict rules for the record to be broken. One was that each snowman had to be over 80 cm tall. They also had to be made of three separate snowballs, with eyes, a nose and arms. People used only their hands to make them. Committee member Jiro Kobayashi told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper that the event suited the opening of the bullet train station. He said that thanks to the cooperation of many people, the record was broken. He said the event added to the celebrations of the train station opening. An eight-year old commented that it was a tough thing to do.