A road covered with snow-like white foam surprised pedestrians in Naka Ward, Nagoya, after a fire extinguishing system was accidentally discharged in a parking garage.
According to the Aichi Prefectural Police and the local fire department, the white foam flowed onto the street near the automated parking facility on Sunday afternoon after a car bumped into a trigger valve, which activated the ceiling sprinklers.
The police were searching for the owner of the car that struck the valve and was left there.
Firefighters were called in to wash away the foam.
"The road was covered in white. I really thought it was snow at first," said the 44-year-old owner of a nearby "takoyaki" (octopus dumplings) shop, who went outside after she heard someone shouting: "It's snow."
"I've been running this shop for more than 20 years, but it's the first time I've seen something like that," she said.