Weather

A rare late-March snowfall coupled with numerous store closures helped keep Tokyo residents indoors Sunday, day two of a crucial weekend in the city's attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19. With snow falling across the Kanto region from morning until around noon, an icy ...

The Meteorological Agency said a cherry tree on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine began blooming 12 days earlier than usual and seven days earlier than last year.

Hakuba, a northern Japan Alps village in Nagano Prefecture at the foot of some of the country's most popular ski resorts, has a problem: Global warming could leave the area without the powder snow that has long been its lifeblood. Famed for its abundant "J-pow," ...

Every year, tens of thousands of tourists flock to the Sapporo Snow Festival, attracted by some 200 large but intricate ice sculptures. But this year, there was a problem: no snow. With high temperatures that festival-goers put down to climate change, organizers were forced to truck ...

The annual Sapporo Snow Festival drew 2.02 million visitors this year, down 716,000 from last year amid growing fears over the new coronavirus, the organizer said Tuesday. The number of visitors to the winter event marked a record 2.74 million last year, with Hokkaido gaining ...

A city in Niigata Prefecture, known for its abundant snowfall every year, was planning to send snow to soccer stadiums and other facilities to be used at this year's Tokyo Olympic Games to tackle the heat. But amid record low snowfall this season, the city ...

Sapporo's annual snow festival began in the city on Tuesday, amid fears over the outbreak of the coronavirus from China and soaring costs involved in transporting snow to the site amid an unusually warm winter. The number of visitors to the winter event in the ...

Warnings have been issued for lightning and tornadoes.

Japanese railway companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help tackle potential problems for their shinkansen bullet trains caused by snow accumulation. West Japan Railway Co. is developing an AI system to gauge the amount of snow that collects on Hokuriku Shinkansen trains that travel ...

English-language media outlets are stepping up their presence in Hokkaido's renowned ski resort of Niseko, benefiting from growing global interest from skiers and snowboarders lured by the region's fine powder snow. In an attempt to reach out to the influx of foreign visitors, local publishers ...