Check out Japan's epic snowball fight competition!
So how did the tournament work? Teams made up of five players competed in matches lasting two minutes each on a field the size of a tennis court, with points awarded for direct hits with a snowball."Put simply, you make snowballs, throw them, score hits and the (team with the) most points wins," said head judge Takuya Kitsu.The winner of the tournament was given a special prize - 30 kgs of rice, which is an Uonuma speciality.
"Snowball fighting is originally just a game, so I like that when you give it a competitive side it becomes a high-tension sport you can enjoy," said one player who travelled from Tokyo to take part in the tournament."I think it's that kind of event where you can feel like a kid again," said another competitor. Uonuma is in a region that sees huge amounts of snowfall every winter. More than three metres of snow had settled in the city by Sunday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency."When you look at it from a local's point of view, the snow can be a nuisance, it's a hassle," said head judge Takuya. "So we hoped we could turn it into something fun by starting these snowball fights."
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The Independent
15-07-2025
- The Independent
Typhoon Nari lashes northern Japan with strong winds and heavy rain
Typhoon Nari crossed Japan 's northernmost island of Hokkaido early on Tuesday, the first storm in almost a decade to scale this further north. The typhoon brought intense winds, heavy rainfall, and warnings of landslides and flooding across Japan, including in Tokyo, before making landfall. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the storm made landfall near Cape Erimo on Hokkaido's southern coast around 2am local time after travelling north along the country's eastern coastline. By 9am, the agency said, the system had moved into the Sea of Okhotsk and become extratropical. Nari was the first typhoon to make landfall on the northern main island of Japan since 2016, according to the agency. Although the typhoon was weakened now, officials warned that high winds, rough seas and heavy rainfall would continue to affect eastern and northern Japan through Tuesday. In the 24-hour period to Tuesday evening, the Kanto-Koshin region was forecast to get up to 200mm of rain, Hokkaido up to 120mm and Tohoku around 80mm. On Monday, extremely heavy rainfall of 52mm fell in the town of Ino in Kochi prefecture and 32mm in Tamana city in Kumamoto. Wind gusts reached speeds of around 126kph in some coastal areas, prompting warnings for shipping and transport disruptions. The storm had earlier passed east of the Tokyo metropolitan area, sparing the capital from direct landfall but causing rain and strong gusts that affected train schedules and ferry services. Satellite imagery showed Nari tracking north rapidly on Monday morning, coming within 250km of Tokyo around midday. No deaths or major injuries were reported as of Tuesday afternoon, but local governments in Hokkaido and parts of Tohoku issued evacuation advisories and urged residents to take shelter. Nari is the fifth named storm of the season. Japan typically sees more typhoons between August and September but warming seas linked to the climate crisis are contributing to earlier and potentially more intense storms. According to data from the weather agency, the country saw a 30 per cent increase in rainfall during typhoons between 1980 and 2010 compared to previous decades. More rain is expected in parts of northern Japan through Wednesday as remnants of the storm move northeastward over the Sea of Okhotsk.
The Guardian
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- The Guardian
Japan's Tokara islands hit by 900 earthquakes in two weeks
More than 900 earthquakes have shaken a remote island chain in southern Japan in the past two weeks, according to the country's weather agency, leaving residents unable to sleep and fearful of what might come next. Although no major damage has been reported, the Japan Meteorological Agency has acknowledged that it does not know when the quakes would end. 'Seismic activity has been very active in the seas around the Tokara island chain since June 21,' Ayataka Ebita, director of the agency's earthquake and tsunami observation division, said at an emergency news conference on Wednesday after a magnitude 5.5 quake was registered at about 3.30pm in the island chain, located south of the main Japanese island of Kyushu. 'As of 4pm today, the number has exceeded 900,' he told reporters, adding that residents should prepare to take shelter or evacuate given the possibility the area could be hit by even stronger quakes. The Mainichi Shimbun said a record number of 740 quakes had occurred across the island chain in the 10-day period up to Tuesday. The quakes were all recorded as 1 or higher on the 7-point Japanese seismic intensity scale, which is used to describe the level of shaking, with 7 being the strongest. A lower 5 is considered powerful enough to alarm people and force them to hold on to something stable. Tokara village said on its website that residents were tired as they had been unable to sleep. 'It feels like it's always shaking,' one resident told the regional broadcaster MBC. 'It's very scary to even fall asleep.' Another said: 'It's not clear when all this will end. I should think about whether to evacuate my kids.' Official data shows that the number of daily quakes peaked at 183 on 23 June, then declined to 15 on 26 June and 16 on 27 June. But the number rose again to 34 on 28 June and 98 on 29 June. On 30 June, 62 quakes were recorded. A similar period of intense seismic activity in the Tokara area was seen in September 2023, when 346 earthquakes were recorded, according to the meteorological agency. Seven of the 12 remote Tokara Islands are inhabited, with about 700 residents in total. Experts say the unusual topography of the area around the Tokara islands makes it easier for pressure to build below the seabed that is then relieved in the form of earthquakes. Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific 'ring of fire'. The archipelago, home to about 125 million people, experiences about 1,500 tremors a year and accounts for about 18% of the world's earthquakes. The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth at which they strike. Nearly 600 people died after a massive earthquake hit the Noto Peninsula in central Japan on New Year's Day in 2024. In March 2011, more than 18,000 people died after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a powerful tsunami that wrecked large parts of the coastline in north-east Japan. The quake also triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Japan's government this week said that more needed to be done to prepare for a possible 'megaquake' that experts believe has a strong chance of striking the Pacific coast in the next three decades. Although it is impossible to predict when, exactly, an earthquake will occur, a government panel in January marginally increased the probability of a major jolt in the Nankai Trough in the next 30 years to between 75% and 82%. According to a revised government estimate in March, a megaquake in the region accompanied by a tsunami could kill as many as 298,000 people and cause damage worth up to $2tn.
The Independent
24-03-2025
- The Independent
Tokyo cherry blossoms bloom earlier than other Japan regions
Cherry trees in Tokyo have begun to bloom in stunning shades of pink, marking the onset of spring in Japan. Tokyo cherry blossoms were forecast to come into bloom earlier than any other region of the country for the second consecutive year. At least six cherry blossom buds opened up on the specimen tree in Sannomaru at the Kochi Castle in the southwest of the country, Japan Meteorological Agency said. This Somei-Yoshino cherry blossom tree is the official marker for declaring the start of the sakura or the cherry blossom season each year, which draws thousands of tourists from across the world. Kumamoto city declared the blooming of cherry blossoms three days earlier than last year but a day later than average, according to reports. Japan usually sees the peak cherry blossom season in March and April when the streets of its major cities are adorned by beautiful pink and white flowers. But temperatures on Sunday reached levels for late April to mid-June in many parts of Japan, with a high-pressure system covering most parts of the country, the weather agency said. Many areas of Japan recorded temperatures of more than 25C or higher, which the agency defines as a summer day. The daytime temperature soared to 26.8C in Tsuyama City in Okayama Prefecture, making it the highest temperature for March since the weather agency began record-taking in 1943. This year's cherry blossom season began five days earlier than 2024, and the trees are expected to be in full bloom by the end of the week. Climate crisis and urban warming have been impacting the flowering dates of cherry blossoms in Japan. Last year, the cherry blossoms bloomed early in February with streets in Kawazu already been covered with pink flowers. In 2023, the iconic blossoms appeared ten days earlier than usual and tied with an early record set in 2020 and 2021 for the earliest bloom date since the records began in 1950s. In Japan, forecasts for cherry blossom bloom are an integral part of the country's spring celebrations. The government has set a standard for observing cherry blossom trees and has been forecasting the annual bloom since 1955. According to the rules, once five or six flowers have opened on the branches of the tree, it's considered to be blossoming. Once 80 per cent of the tree has flowered, it's deemed to be in full bloom. Why is the sakura season important? The sakura or cherry blossom season does not just hold cultural significance, but it's also a major tourist attraction. An estimated 63 million people travel to Japan to see the cherry blossoms, spending around $2.7bn in the process, according to a 2019 estimate from Kansai University. In March 2024, a record 3.1 million tourists visited Japan during the spring season, a 70 per cent increase from the previous year. The flowers are loved by people in Japan as much as the tourists, who flock to parks to hold picnics to view and photograph the blossoms. Stores in Japan stock their shelves with flower-themed or favoured items such as pink sakura drinks, cakes and even lunch boxes. The Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit will be held in the first week of April, when the fast-corner track will be adorned with blooming cherry blossoms. The race last year drew about 222,000 fans from Japan and across the world. View this post on Instagram A post shared by F1 Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka Circuit) (@f1japanesegp) When will the blossoms completely bloom this year? The timing of the sakura season varies in Japan by region, beginning from late March and extending till the end of April. This year, blooms are expected to appear in Hiroshima and Kochi in western Japan and Miyazaki in southwestern Japan this week. It will be followed by Yokohama and in the southwestern Japanese cities of Fukuoka, Saga and Nagasaki. In northeastern Japan, the flowers are forecast to bloom by mid-April and Hokkaido will be the last to witness the pink in late April. How to enjoy the blossoms Grab some drinks, food and a blue tarpaulin picnic sheet, and do a spot of hanami. Literally meaning 'flower viewing', hanami are the picnics and parties held in cherry blossom spots, which can range from a mellow afternoon with family in the local park to sake-fuelled parties with colleagues. Ueno Park in Tokyo is in the latter category, a sea of picnic sheets under an expanse of billowing blossom. By nightfall, the park will be littered with passed-out hanami casualties. Tokyo's Shinjuku Gyoen Park is far calmer, as there's an admission fee and no-alcohol policy for anyone who wants to relax amid the 1,300 multi-varied blossoms spread across its lawns and gardens. The Imperial Palace's Edo-era Chidiorgafuchi moat, however, can stake a strong claim as the most attractive blossom spot in the capital, its banks bursting with pink. A top hanami spot at night is the hip Nakameguro neighbourhood, where blossoms, paper lanterns and food and drink trucks line the concrete banks of the Meguro River.
