STORY: Heavy snow continued to hit parts of northern and western Japan on Saturday (January 31).

Local media reported that the city of Aomori in northern Japan reached a total of 167 centimetres (5 feet 5 inches) of snowfall on Friday (January 30), the highest level since 1945.

Heavy snow also blanketed parts of the Sea of Japan coast, hitting areas including Niigata in northern Japan and Kyoto prefecture in the west.

Snow cover in Niigata prefecture's Uonuma city passed a depth of 273 centimetres (8 feet 9 inches) on Friday, local media said.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: UONUMA, NIIGATA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (JANUARY 31, 2026) (NIPPON TV / JAPAN - Broadcast: No use Japan / Cannot re-use after 30 days from transmission without permission from Nippon TV. Digital: No use Japan / Cannot re-use after 30 days from transmission without permission from Nippon TV.)

1. CARS DRIVING DOWN ROAD BETWEEN WALLS OF SNOW

2. DEEP SNOW EITHER SIDE OF FOOTPATH

3. PERSON WALKING NEXT TO WALL OF SNOW

4. CAR DRIVING PAST PILE OF SNOW / PEDESTRIAN CROSSING LIGHT BURIED IN SNOW

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) UNIDENTIFIED UONUMA RESIDENT, SAYING:

“I clear the snow, I sleep, I get up, I clear the snow. Sometimes I eat.”

AOMORI, AOMORI PREFECTURE, JAPAN (JANUARY 31, 2026) (NIPPON TV / JAPAN - Broadcast: No use Japan / Cannot re-use after 30 days from transmission without permission from Nippon TV. Digital: No use Japan / Cannot re-use after 30 days from transmission without permission from Nippon TV.)

6. PEOPLE WALKING ALONG SNOWY STREET

7. DEEP SNOW ON ROOF

8. PEOPLE WALKING

9. PEOPLE CLEARING SNOW

10. UNIDENTIFIED AOMORI RESIDENT CLEARING SNOW

11. PILES OF SNOW

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) UNIDENTIFIED AOMORI RESIDENT, SAYING:

“They came to clear the snow recently but it’s already like this again.”

REPORTER: “Even though they come weekly?”

“No, no, no, they only come once every three to four weeks.”

MAIZURU, KYOTO PREFECTURE, JAPAN (JANUARY 31, 2026) (NIPPON TV / JAPAN - Broadcast: No use Japan / Cannot re-use after 30 days from transmission without permission from Nippon TV. Digital: No use Japan / Cannot re-use after 30 days from transmission without permission from Nippon TV.)

13. VARIOUS OF CARS DRIVING THROUGH HEAVY SNOWFALL

14. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING ON SNOW-COVERED STREETS