TOKYO: Heavy snow caused traffic jams, flight cancellations and disruption to train services in central Japan on Monday, with record drifts recorded in some areas.
More than 3,200 households have been left without power in the region, according to Kansai Electric Power, as officials warned more snow was forecast overnight.
No injuries or deaths due to the freezing weather have yet been confirmed, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said.
"A strong winter pressure pattern is causing heavy snow, mainly along the Sea of Japan side of the country from northern to western Japan, with some areas experiencing record snowfall," Matsuno said.
"The amount of snow is expected to increase tomorrow... increased caution and vigilance are still required."
A major road in the Shiga region was closed "due to stranded vehicles", Matsuno said, with TV footage showing long lines of stationary cars that later began to move.
The traffic snarl-up reportedly began when a truck slipped near Hikone city, where 68 centimetres of snow fell in 24 hours to this morning -- 30 times deeper than average -- according to public broadcaster NHK.
Nearly 200 passengers were snowed in overnight on a local train line in the region, NHK said.
One picture from a train carriage posted on Twitter showed a huge pile of fresh powder between two open doors as a station lamp illuminated snowflakes against the night sky.
Around 130 domestic flights were cancelled on Sunday due to the snow, Jiji Press said, with NHK reporting some 50 cancellations on Monday.
SUPPORT FOR PM UP
In another development, nearly two-thirds of Japanese voters support Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government, with the public welcoming his anti-coronavirus measures, including temporary border closure to new foreign entrants, the Nikkei business daily said on Monday.
Support for Kishida's cabinet rose to 65%, up by 4 percentage points from the previous survey a month ago, the newspaper said.
In the latest poll taken from Friday to Sunday, 61% of those surveyed evaluated positively Kishida's anti-coronavirus steps, the highest figure since the Nikkei started asking the public's views on the government's coronavirus response in February 2020.
Amid the global emergence of highly transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus, Kishida late November announced that Japan was barring entry to foreigners for about a month. Last week, he extended the measure through New Year holidays.
Kishida took office in October, replacing Yoshihide Suga, whose one-year term as prime minister saw his support crumble as Covid-19 surged.
Japan has detected several hundreds new coronavirus cases a day in recent weeks, down sharply from more than 20,000 daily infections in the latest peak in August. -- AFP/Reuters
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