283 Centimeters of Heavy Snow in Japan

A spell of winter storms and heavy snows across Japan caused two deaths and injured more than 600 people on Tuesday. A train also derailed and domestic flights were canceled due to the extreme weather.

Winter storms and heavy snows this week were localized in the areas adjacent to the East Sea, from southwestern Kyushu to northern Hokkaido, and some areas recorded a snowfall of 90 centimeters.

According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, in Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, 283 centimeters of snow had fallen in the past 24 hours, which was the highest recorded snowfall. Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture, recorded a snowfall of 219 centimeters.

The heavy snow caused a Shinkansen train going to Tokyo from Osaka to be delayed for two hours yesterday morning. More than 150 domestic flights beginning on February 1, and 10 domestic flights yesterday were disrupted, affecting about 10,000 people.

A train carrying 400 passengers derailed in the severe snow in the northern Niigata Prefecture on Tuesday. However, no one was injured.

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com