Originally, the Nagano Games mascot was going to be a weasel called Snowple.
Owls are venerated around the world as having the “wisdom of the woods”; in Greek mythology, the owl is associated with Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
The four Snowlets‟ names were chosen from among 47,484 suggestions.
The agency responsible for creating the mascots was the same one that designed the torch for the Atlanta Games in 1996, and also took part in designing the mascots for Salt Lake City 2002.