Japan: Life In Aomori – One Of The Snowiest Cities In The World

When it snows heavily, many areas in the Japanese city of Aomori can be inundated by more than 8 meters, enough to bury a two-story house.
Japan: Life in Aomori city - one of the most icy places in the world
Snow houses in Aomori. Photo: CNN
Every year, Aomori city in northern Tohoku of Japan experiences major snowstorms and blizzards. Although it is harsh, this also makes Aomori, home to 300,000 people, into one of the snowiest cities on the planet, attracting many tourists.
The strongest snow falls in Aomori due to the cold Siberian wind that sweeps into Japan from the northwest every November

. When cold air spills over the warmer waters off Japan's mountainous coast, it collects moisture, which then turns into snow. In the first months of 2019, Aomorri city was covered in more than 3 meters of snow.
Snow sea effect
Japan's so-called "sea effect snow" leaves much of Aomori city and its surrounding suburbs covered in a thick layer of snow during winter The ground was almost completely white until April.



The roof was covered. The pavement is clogged. Many downtown streets are frozen.
Julia Minatoya grew up on the outskirts of Aomori City. The snowflakes in her backyard are so large that every winter, the whole family cannot use most of the first floor doors or windows. "It's a constant battle for everyone here every day," she said as she shoveled snow in her hand, in spite of fresh rain of snow covering the driveway she had just cleared.
Winter's "fairy world"
Despite the constant blizzards, Aomori City does not close in the winter In contrast, it turned into a land for skiers and tourists who wanted to frolic in the snow.




Many visitors come to taste some of Japan's freshest and best seafood. Vendors sell it in bulk at Furukawa - the city's central seafood market. The most famous local specialty is nokke don, which includes a bowl of rice with a variety of toppings on top such as raw tuna, octopus or sea urchins that diners can choose from different stalls.
Fresh seafood in Aomori. Photo: CNN
“The best season to eat fish in Aomori is winter, especially cod. Many species come to these waters to breed, ”said Yone Natsume, a fish-seller in Furukawa.
For thrill-seekers, nearby Mount Hakkoda offers some of the best “wild racing” in the world. American traveler Tim Roberts recently went to Aomori to travel with a group of friends.



They spent days skiing down from Hakkoda.
“This place is a little different because there aren't many cuts that run into the mountain. It's a real kind of adventure of yourself, finding your own path, ”he told CNN Travel.
After a long day on the slopes, many skiers relax at one of Hakkoda's famous landmarks - the sulfur hot springs found atop the volcano.
Aomori Airport handles around 20 flights a day. Jets can land and take off there even in winter because the airport has a giant snow removal team White Impulse. The 120-member team operates dozens of heavy snow plows several times a day to keep the airport's single runway from freezing in the worst weather.
In more than two decades of operation, no flights were delayed or canceled due to snow on the runway at Aomori Airport, said Daishuke Saito, a White Impulse snow plow.



“When I see the plane landing and taking off safely because of what we did, it makes me proud. It's a real sense of accomplishment, ”he said.
Of course, removing snow from the runway and roads around Aomori City only solved part of the problem. To prevent snow overload, trucks must haul excess snow to the port along the city's northern coast of Mutsu Bay. There, snow is dropped into the sea. The trucks operate all day, every day. This activity is also extremely expensive. In the winter of 2018, the snow removal operation in Aomori City cost $ 35 million, according to local officials.




According to Phuong Phuong / Law
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