Snowy Streets and Sidewalks – Pitching In

Last weekend Tokyo saw a fairly massive snowfall, the largest in 45 years it seems. It is not unusual for Tokyo to get one or two days of snow where it actually stays on the ground, but usually not in amounts to make the traffic situation difficult. Whereas the northern prefectures of Japan where they get several yards of snowfall each winter are famous for their skilled snowplow drivers here in central Tokyo we do not have a single dedicated snowplow. There seems to be one machine on hand in the far western part of Tokyo, in Okutama, where they get more snow on the narrow mountain roads.

Instead of relying on city snowplows, the people of central Tokyo have to take the matter into their own hands, and starting Saturday morning when the snow really kicked in, all the way to Sunday evening I could see people outside shoveling snow, scraping roads and clearing streets, all by hand or whatever kind of tools the could find. Some people had proper shovels whereas others used metal dustpans. I saw one older man with a hammer attacking the ice in the street in front of his house while his wife carried the blocks of ice away. By noon on Sunday when I took these photos most streets had been sufficiently cleared for foot traffic. The sidewalk in front of a building is considered the responsibility of the building owner so house owners, shopkeepers, shop staff, even monks were out to clear the sidewalks and in some cases whole streets together. There’s nothing like a little natural adversity to bring out the best in people!

Despite the hard work of clearing streets it doesn’t mean that people don’t want to have a little fun though. I saw lots of snow sculptures, snowmen and even snow shrines, like the one in my photo dedicated to the grandiose Japanese talk show celebrity Matsuko Deluxe, built in front of a little hair salon.

I took these photos as I walked from Edogawabashi Station up towards Akagi Shrine in Kagurazaka and the maze of little streets in between. More photos of Akagi Shrine shrouded in snow to come!