00:03With a practiced throw, a team of seven athletes hurl snowballs at their opponents in unison.
00:09In this northern corner of Japan, people have distilled the humble snowball fight into a proper sport,
00:15a serious test of athletic prowess that they hope will make it to the Olympics.
00:22This is Yuki Gatsun, a contest where the rules are simple, but the execution is anything but.
00:29Teams of seven face off with a flag that needs protecting, but get tagged with a snowball in the process
00:35and you're out.
00:39Just like dodgeball, you have three minutes and 90 snowballs.
00:42With that, you try to take out as many opponents as possible.
00:46The team with the most surviving players wins the set.
00:49It's a best of three match, so the first team to win two sets is the winner.
00:53But if you manage to capture the other team's flag, you win instantly.
00:59To add to the challenge, team members can hide behind barriers, making the game a challenge of nimbleness and agility
01:06as well as good aim.
01:08And teamwork and strategy can make or break victory.
01:14I was playing back foot, meaning I was all the way in the back, in charge of supplying balls to
01:19the front.
01:20And since she was positioned in the middle, I made a point of coordinating with her as I send the
01:25rounds forward.
01:27Japan may not have invented the snowball fight, but it has perfected it.
01:31Referees analyze the barrage of snowballs to make sure there's fair play.
01:37And even the snowballs are compacted into a standard size.
01:42How did today's Yukigassen come about anyway?
01:45Well, the sport started amid a crisis here in the town of Sobetsu, Japan.
01:49The former hot spring town lost most of its tourism after a volcanic eruption in the 1970s.
01:56But when someone here saw visitors having a snowball fight, they got an idea.
02:01What if this game could be turned into something, something to bring the town's fortunes back?
02:06Since 1989, Sobetsu has been Japan's snowball fighting capital.
02:11And the regulations born here are spreading internationally, raising hopes this sport could make it big.
02:19It's widespread in Finland and in parts of Europe.
02:22Thirteen countries play under the same rules.
02:24In that context, the idea came naturally for us to see it as a potential Olympic sport.
02:31Once the snowy battlefield is cleared, it's time for celebration and sportsmanship.
02:36Another well-played match of this Japanese town's special sport.
02:41Howard Zhang and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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