When you live in Tokyo and its environs, snow doesn’t really factor much into your winter — unless, of course, you get that light dusting that seems to come once every couple of years to cause mild havoc for anyone relying on public transport.
That’s not just a Tokyo thing, mind you. I lived in London for a few years and it was much the same. Only that light dusting also seemed to freeze people’s care and compassion along with the transport network. However, despite the travel woes, much of the rest of London carried on operating and functioning — as does Tokyo.
After London, I moved to Guernsey in the Channel Islands and saw firsthand how a much rarer snowfall completely brought the place to its knees. Anything that could close did, and the radio station I was working for circa 2010 (before the age of ubiquity for social media-based news) became something of an information hub, taking in and disseminating people’s urgent notices and closure information.