UONUMA, Japan >> More than 120 teams battled it out in a snowball fight tournament in a mountainous Japanese city on Feb. 9, in what the local weather bureau called the coldest air this winter to sweep the country’s northern snow belt.

The 35th annual Koide International Snowball Fight in Uonuma, Niigata prefecture, roughly 112 miles northwest of Tokyo, was the largest event of its kind in Japan, said 29-year-old head judge Takuya Kitsu.

Teams of five players competed in two-minute matches between two teams on a field the size of a tennis court, with points awarded for direct hits with a snowball.

“Put simply, you make snowballs, throw them, score hits and the (team with the) most points wins,” said Kitsu.

In Japan, standardized snowball fighting, known as “Sports Yukigassen,” has players from heavy-snow areas.

According to rules by the Japan Yukigassen Federation, which was not involved in Uonuma’s event, players are counted out when hit by a snowball and a team wins once all opponents are out.

“Snowball fighting is originally just a game, so I like that when you give it a competitive side it becomes a high-tension sport you can enjoy,” said player Masaki Nakakubo, 26, who traveled from Tokyo.

“I think it’s that kind of event where you can feel like a kid again,” said Chizuru Ofuchi, 28, a fellow competitor.

Uonuma is deep in Japan’s so-called “Snow Country,” a region that sees hefty amounts of snowfall every winter. More than nine feet of snow had accumulated in the city by the day of the competition, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

“When you look at it from a local’s point of view, the snow can be a nuisance, it’s a hassle,” said Kitsu, an Uonuma native. “So we hoped we could turn it into something fun by starting these snowball fights.”

The tournament winner was awarded 66 pounds of rice, an Uonuma speciality.