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

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