Japan is one of the major snowiest place in the world. In order to survive in this snowy region, various wisdoms have been developed to coexist with the snow since ancient times, and a very unique snow country culture has been formed today.
How much does it snow in Japan?
Data from JICE shows that compared to the snowfall of cities around the world, Japan has many cities that receive more snowfall.
The graph below shows the total depth of snowfall in one year, with Asahikawa City in Hokkaido, Aomori City in Aomori Prefecture, and the Takada district of Joetsu City in Niigata Prefecture receiving a total of more than 700 cm of snow in one year.
"Survey results in 2006. Data from JICE
The following data shows the average amount of snowfall at five locations (Shibata, Niigata, Nagaoka, Tokamachi, and Joetsu city) in Niigata Prefecture, which is known for its heavy snowfall.
The top 10 snowiest cities in the world
According to The top 10 snowiest places in the world 5 of cities are ranked from Japan.
- Chamonix, France
- Niseko, Japan
- Nagano, Japan
- Aomori City, Japan
- Alyeska, Alaska
- Sapporo, Japan
- Toyama, Japan
- Syracuse, United States
- Saguenay, Canada
- Buffalo, United States
Why there are a lot of snow in Japan?
It’s because of ocean effects according to The whether channel.
Sea of Japan is located on the left of Japan island. Frozen cold wind blows from Siberia in winter and when this frigid air go through the relatively warm Sea of Japan, Huge amount of water evaporates from surface of the sea and forms clouds. Then these clouds helps to form snow. When this clouds encounter and hits the Japanese Alps, it gets a lot of snow.
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Why does it snow so much in Japan?
Japan is considered one of the heaviest snowfall countries in the world, despite the fact that most of the area has a mid-latitude temperate climate. Why does it snow so much in Japan? Where does it snow so much in Japan? To find out which areas get the most snowfall, it is easy to understand by looking at the heavy snowfall areas recognized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism(MLIT). MLIT has designated these areas as "heavy snowfall areas," which are areas that require economic and lifestyle support due to the amount of snowfall. Most of the heavy ...
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Snowfall area and population
What Japanese snow culture makes unique is the fact that 20 million people (About 15% of people in Japan) lives in the heavy snowfall area(1).
Japanese people have created and accumulated various wisdoms in order to live with snow. This became the foundation of Japan's unique snow country culture.
In modern times, laws have been developed, technologies unique to snow country have been developed, communities have been formed, and ingenuity has been created to live in heavy snowfall areas.
What is heavy snow area? (豪雪地帯)
In Japan, there are places called heavy snowfall areas.
A heavy snowfall zone is an area where there is a large amount of snowfall in winter, and in the Japanese legal system, it refers to an area that is specifically designated under the Law Concerning Special Measures against Heavy Snowfall Zones.
The Act recognizes as heavy snowfall zones those areas where the improvement of the living standards of residents and the development of industry have been hampered by the constant annual snowfall.
The government is working to promote industry and stabilize the lives of local residents by ensuring transportation and communication, promoting local industries such as agriculture and forestry, and improving living environment facilities.
Currently, heavy snowfall areas are designated as shown in the figure below.
Light blue color shows heavy snowfall area. and blue color shows special heavy snowfall area.
Technology to cope with heavy snowfall
In order to cope with heavy snowfall, Various technologies are being developed and devised to ensure that transportation systems can operate on schedule even in heavy snow.
People also develop equipment and technologies that are resistant to snow and cold so that electricity, gas, and water will not be interrupted by heavy snowfall.
Buildings will also be designed to withstand the weight of snow and cold.
Taxes used to deal with heavy snowfall
Also city office spends a lot of money to deal with snow. for example, The Sapporo City spends 14 billion yen every year for snow every year (1) City office remove snows using operation vehicles.
A unique community developed in a snow country
People shovel the snow around their houses by themselves, or help each other in neighborhood associations to remove snow from their neighborhoods.
In rural cities, however, sustaining these community is difficult for people because of aging society.
