From Hokkaido down to central Japan, along the sea of Japan or mountainous regions, the world's leading heavy snowfall districts are found. Aomori City: the first rank, Sapporo City: the second rank and Toyama City: the third rank...these are the world's top three cities in terms of yearly snow accumulation. The candidate cities are limited to the population of over 100 thousand though, it's a big surprise that the top three cities out of ten belong to Japan. Japan features a landscape of heavy snow in winter. Accordingly, the locals in these districts have strived to overcome the difficulties caused by heavy snow trying one way after another. The yuki-gakoi in the picture is one of them. The villagers in the mountainous regions of Gifu Prefecture make this device around the house at the end of autumn. Yuki-gakoi is helpful for avoiding the trouble of snow removal beside the house and the protection of the window glass against heavily accumulated snow.
Licensed tour guide, travel consultant,
Masahisa Takaki.
