Winter has it's eye on Japan once again by Dan Corbett
Parts of Japan have been seeing their worst winter conditions for more than 20 years, with large amounts of snow falling frequently in the past two weeks.
Northern and western parts of the country have been worst hit in the recent winter spell, with the Hakusan area to the northwest of Tokyo seeing around 150cm (60 inches) of lying snow on the ground at one stage.
Japan is world renowned for its fast and efficient public transport system, but even the bullet trains had to be suspended between the cities of Akita and Morioka, due to the harsh winter conditions.
Highway 405 which runs between the prefectures of Niigata and Nagano was opened for the first time on Sunday, after being closed for most of January so far, as a result of the heavy snowfalls.
Temperatures have risen in the last few days, but as the snow starts to thaw, it brings the risk of avalanches. There have already been reports of people trapped and injured under snow that has collapsed.
Despite the milder conditions at the moment, it looks as though more heavy snow will hit Japan at the end of the week as an area of low pressure skirts across the country, with much colder air digging in from the north.
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