Aomori City is the capital of Aomori prefecture. It has the most snowfall in the world among 300,000-people-class cities. The maximum annual snowfall was 1263 cm in 1985, and the maximum snow accumulation was 209 cm in 1945.
I visited Aomori in mid-February with the tremendous snow. Unlike other heavy snowfall areas in Japan, the road surface in Aomori City remained white without removal except for the station road and the national road. Even with snow tires, the car slipped and sometimes ran idle. The traffic wasn't congested, but it only ran at 20km / h. Outside the town, the speed drops further due to a blizzard.
In the downtown, a snow wall with about 3m rose between a road and a sidewalk. The sidewalk was often about 1m higher than the road. In Hirosaki of the same prefecture, where snow is a little better than Aomori, the tourist information at the station rented snow boots to tourists. For the snow in Aomori, they need such equipment.
Despite a blizzard, the deep snow, and the low temperature, several young people walked about, wearing early summer-like clothing, such as a T-shirt, jeans jacket, and sneakers. Are Aomori citizens active in metabolism?
It all happened in a minute. So, I couldn't take the photo, but the best shot of the day was the Mini Cooper, which ran with more than 1m of snow on the roof. Opinions must been divided on whether to judge it lazy or cool. However, casualness that even the tremendous snow made a target of laziness was cool.
Click here for your impressions
When you want to know more → Time of Travel - Aomori City in Snow
(Aomori city, Aomori, Japan)
reference
青森の雪（青森市役所）
Please do not use or upload our photos without permission.
