Abstract
Actual conditions and problems of festive events using snow or ice as a measure for activation of regional society are investigated based on a mail survey to municipalities of depopulated area that belong to the snowy area doubly. Event cases are classified into five types. Three main types of them are general festival in winter, ski event, and other sports or recreation events. Several characteristics of the events, e.g., starting year, contents, aim and practical staffs are examined with an attention to.the event types and regional variation. Popular event type has shifted with time from ski to general festival, and next, to other events. An analysis of municipal officials' estimation for effects and remaining problems of the events revealed some characteristics and factors of variation of the estimation. Municipal officials highly estimate the activation effect of festive event, and tend to attach importance to social (endogenous) effects for inhabitants' daily life and spirits than economic (exogenous) effects, e.g., development of tourist industries.
