Did you survive the Great Kanto Snow Disaster of 2013?

[yanpa]

Well, Fukushima has finally met its match. Up to 13 cm of snow blanketing the capital region have almost brought the whole of Japan to a grinding standstill (except those areas where it didn't snow, or where they measure snow in metres)

How did you deal with Tokyo-style Snowmageddon?

[Coligny]

Can you send me some to play in my parking ?

1 standard 40feet shipping container would be cool...

edit, according to the wind patterns I'm due to another round of rain soon... should be hitting Nagoya right aboot now

[TennoChinko]

Is all that shit going to melt overnight or will it freeze over making tomorrow a major pain in the ass?

[wuchan]

national holiday, mad snow and no one on the roads. went out in the kei truck for some fun

[Iraira]

Went outside, had snowball fight with gf (of course lost on purpose), spent rest of the day on the hot carpet (or under the futon) and eating oden we made the night before, Also made three Japanese salarimen snowmen on the veranda. They all did the honorable thing by midnight and jumped, slid, or were pushed off the veranda railing falling to the street below by midnight.

[yanpa]

Is all that shit going to melt overnight or will it freeze over making tomorrow a major pain in the ass?

It is indeed very much still on the ground.

[Yokohammer]

You call that snow?

Phmeh!

Half an hour of heavy shoveling coming up. At least I'll get some exercise.

[yanpa]

Incredibly two of our neighbours possess snow shovels, we managed to clear about half the street.

Trains are running, but the roads are pretty fucked.

[Yokohammer]

The roads are a mess here too, but everybody in this part of the country has winter tires fitted from December through about March, so accidents caused by snow are relatively infrequent. Of course there's no change in the frequency of accidents caused by stupidity.

And ... it's %$#& snowing again this morning. Not heavily, fortunately.

[Taro Toporific]

You call that snow?
Phmeh!

Did it snow?

cam_dencho.jpg

Denenchofu, Tama River 6:45

[yanpa]

The roads are a mess here too, but everybody in this part of the country has winter tires fitted from December through about March, so accidents caused by snow are relatively infrequent. Of course there's no change in the frequency of accidents caused by stupidity.

That's the perennial problem of regions where it doesn't snow enough for people to get used to it. Some of the buses here did have chains on their wheels, I saw just now.

Methinks it will all start melting soon anyway.

[yanpa]

For those unfamiliar with dealing with this white stuff, here are some helpful instructions from NHK:

snow-instructions.jpg

[GomiGirl]

Cardboard covered with a trash bag doesn't work for a sled. Toddler had fun though.

My grocery delivery made it through about 2 hours late. He said they put chains on the truck. Poor guy had to work delivering in that weather.

Not sure if we should try to ride to daycare/work this morning or walk.

[yanpa]

Ride = cycle? Dunno what it's like where you are, but around here everyone is walking, I saw precisely two cyclists struggling along at walking pace.

[Taro Toporific]

... some helpful instructions from NHK.

NHK had great fun showing the first-time Kimono Transvestites enjoying their Coming Out festivities.

Kimono in Snow, Harajuku by tokyofashion, on Flickr

[GomiGirl]

I made it on the bike - pushed for quite a bit especially when I had the toddler on the back. I decided it was my best option as the stroller would have been impossible and no way he would have been able to walk in that so pushing the bike worked well.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I survived and did take some photos for FB but not because I come from a place with no snow. It was because I had been holed up in my apartment with the flu for about 5 days, was feeling better, needed some fresh air, and love snow.

[Coligny]

That's the perennial problem of regions where it doesn't snow enough for people to get used to it. Some of the buses here did have chains on their wheels, I saw just now.

Methinks it will all start melting soon anyway.

Yeah... it's not like if it was snowing every year in Tokyo...

FFS, we got at most 1 day of snow every year but from november to March nearly every one is on snow tires and at the first sign of a snowfall all the bus/taxi/trucks and most of the cars have their chains on...

[GomiGirl]

Spotted on Twitter... which was shared from somebody's facebook. Am trying to give credit where credit is due.

sumosnow.jpg

[gaijinpunch]

Cardboard covered with a trash bag doesn't work for a sled. Toddler had fun though.

I believe you're at the bottom of "hilly" areas of our neighborhood, which would have put quite a number of cars spinning their wheels for many hours last night. I even saw 3 people putting chains on a taxi on a hill -- they used the jack to lift the back end up. It just screamed "safety" to me.

[TennoChinko]

I saw the maintenance man of a neighboring condominium clear the sidewalks while leaving a hose of cold running water running to rinse away the final bits. The run-off was creating slushy pools of ice on parts of the sidewalk that had not been cleared. While I guessed that the day would heat up that day, I am fairly certain the janitor had little clue.

[yanpa]

I saw the maintenance man of a neighboring condominium clear the sidewalks while leaving a hose of cold running water running to rinse away the final bits. The run-off was creating slushy pools of ice on parts of the sidewalk that had not been cleared. While I guessed that the day would heat up that day, I am fairly certain the janitor had little clue.

There was someone doing exactly the same thing at a taxi depot on the main road here. If I'd been sure it would freeze overnight I would have given him a piece of my mind.

Today, someone working at a nearby garage had hit upon the innovative idea of shovelling surplus snow onto the road surface for it to be pulverised by passing traffic.

[Coligny]

JAPAN:

work HARD, not SMART...

shadoks02_1920x1200.jpg

"Better to pump even if nothing happens than to risk something worse happening by not pumping"

[Harhar]

Funny, that sounds very much like the Washington DC area when it snows. Snowmagaeden was a total joke here. The government was closed for a week. Snow shovels sold out so people started using pans.

A couple of years ago I saw some guy crash himself out near the pentagon and he was dragging his bumper back to his car during a 3 inch storm. Two years ago we had a predicted storm (like a day in advance) and they shut the government down in the middle of the day and the highways got clogged because all the agencies were let out at the same time. Girlfriend decided to take the explorer out to the suburbs that morning, and I had to drive through DC after rescuing her. That was a study in 'merican extreme lack of common life sense. Honestly, how dumb do you have to be to stop at a stop sign with all-season tires on a minivan in an all out snow storm when nobody is coming.

[gaijinpunch]

You should see it snow in Texas. Holy fuck... what a joke, b/c it doesn't snow. It ices over and has a little snow on top. Creates a gigantic game of bumper cars. However, most people do have generally better sense than getting rid of the ice with water.

[GomiGirl]

Cardboard covered with a trash bag doesn't work for a sled. Toddler had fun though.

I believe you're at the bottom of "hilly" areas of our neighborhood, which would have put quite a number of cars spinning their wheels for many hours last night. I even saw 3 people putting chains on a taxi on a hill -- they used the jack to lift the back end up. It just screamed "safety" to me.

We tried a few of the hills around the place for some sledding action but big fail. Had fun though.

Hoping for an uneventful ride home especially down the big hill.

I too saw some fools with the hose out today.... honestly what are they thinking?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Today, someone working at a nearby garage had hit upon the innovative idea of shovelling surplus snow onto the road surface

I saw some asshole doing that after last year's snow storm.

[canman]

The thing that kills me is that a lot of the people in Tokyo have come from snowy regions, so they should remember what it is like to walk on snowy, icy roads/sidewalks.
As for the running water, every gas station up here in Hachinohe has the water running 24/7! And as stated it turns into a huge slab of ice at the curb, but they don't seem to care. The water cost must be atrocious.
We got about 35cm yesterday. No problems, everything ran on time, not a care in the world. Damn cold though.

[legion]

There is of course the yearly question. Why don't they grit the roads?

Felt sorry for the people trying to get to and from seijinshiki.

We gave up on running errands half way yesterday, even with snow chains on the kei wagon it was hard work driving, front end was quite slippy, not fun with two kids in the car. Headed home and I spent the next couple of hours pushing cars which kept getting stuck on the slope near our house.

[yanpa]

There is of course the yearly question. Why don't they grit the roads?

Do "they" have any significant gritting capability for a once in 7 years event?

(If they do, no doubt someone will be complaining at the expense of maintaining it on the offchance of snow...).