JAPAN: Snowfall that is unusually late in the season takes Tokyo by surprise, causing problems for the city's transport system

Record ID: 466098

  • Title: JAPAN: Snowfall that is unusually late in the season takes Tokyo by surprise, causing problems for the city's transport system
  • Date: 1st March 2012
  • Summary: WORKERS WALKING IN SNOW TOKYO, JAPAN (FEBRUARY 29, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) UNIDENTIFIED TOKYO RESIDENT TAKAMITSU SAITO, SAYING: "It's incredible. We don't normally get this amount of snow in Tokyo. It's a bit scary actually." PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE SOUTH ENTRANCE OF JAPAN RAIL SHINJUKU STATION SIGN READING IN JAPANESE: "DELAYS TO THE TOKYO METRO YURAKUCHO LINE DUE TO SNOW" BOARD SHOWING DELAYS AND SUSPENSIONS TO TRAIN LINES (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO RESIDENT NAOKO KATO, SAYING: "It's slippery, it's really scary. I'm taking care not to fall over as I walk." PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE SHINJUKU STATION (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO RESIDENT ASAKO NINEMURA, SAYING: "The snow you usually get in spring falls more gently, like flower petals. But this huge snowfall today, well it doesn't look at all like that." PEOPLE CLEARING SNOW ON PAVEMENT SNOW FALLING ON TREE PEOPLE CLEARING SNOW
  • Embargoed: 16th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVA7V7TUTORXWZY5DWT79RLQZ07K
  • Story Text: Unusually late snowfall caught Tokyo off guard on Wednesday (February 29) and caused problems for the Japanese capital's transport system.
    By midday, the snow was about two-centimetres (0.8-inch) thick in downtown Tokyo, local media said, with drifts about double that in western parts of the city.
    By 1300 local time (0400 GMT), 117 people were injured from slipping on ice or wet snow, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.
    Some trains were delayed by up to 90 minutes due to the snow, causing thousands to be late for work.
    The snow also shut down parts of Tokyo's highway system and many of the bridges that criss-cross the city.
    "It's incredible. We don't normally get this amount of snow in Tokyo. It's a bit scary actually," an unidentified Tokyo resident said.
    "It's slippery underfoot, it's really scary. I'm taking care not to fall over as I walk," another Tokyo resident Naoko Kato said.
    Some were surprised by the sudden and unexpected flurry of snow.
    "The snow you usually get in spring falls more gently, like flower petals. But this huge snowfall today, well it doesn't look at all like that," Tokyo resident Asako Ninemura said.
    Snowfall usually hits Tokyo in December or January.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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