The annual Sapporo Snow Festival, one of Japan's largest winter events, attracted a record-high 2.74 million visitors thanks to good weather and an influx of Chinese holidaymakers during the Lunar New Year period, its organizer said Tuesday.

The event, held since 1950, was staged from late last month through Monday in Hokkaido's capital city, overlapping with this year's weeklong Chinese New Year holidays, which began Feb. 4.

The record figure showed that both domestic and foreign visitors were "back completely" after a major earthquake in the prefecture last September caused declines in the number of tourists, according to the organizer.

On Tuesday, tourists were able to see the demolition of snow and ice sculptures. This year, there were some 190 exhibits including those featuring women's world No. 1-ranked tennis player Naomi Osaka and Helsinki Cathedral, commemorating the centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland.

"It must be so hard to bring these sculptures down as I can see how thick they are. I feel sad in a sense that they have to be destroyed," said Shiho Ono, 30, from Kanagawa Prefecture, as she looked on at demolition work at the Odori site in the city center.

On Sep. 6 last year, Hokkaido was hit by a magnitude 6.7 quake that killed 42 people. The temblor also caused a prefecture-wide blackout.

IN PHOTOS: Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan's Hokkaido