The Snowlets are the officials mascots of the Nagano Games. Their design is based on an owl motif (owls are thought to embody the "wisdom of the woods"), and their name is drawn from three elements: snow (fitting for the Olympic Winter Games), let's (an invitation for all to participate), and owlets (young owls).

The flower-like shape of the emblem is called the Snowflower: It's meant to depict athletes in dynamic motion arranged in a petal formation. The Snowflower is a pair of hexagons, just like snowflakes, and can also be viewed as an Alpine plant, showing the importance the Nagano Games are placing on coexistence with nature.