Japan: Winter Storm Brings Blizzard Conditions And Heavy Snow To Hokkaido

A winter storm moved through Hokkaido, the northernmost region of Japan, on Wednesday, December 11, causing blizzard conditions and bringing several inches of snow. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a Gale and Snow Advisory for a widespread area.

Swans in northern Japan

WAKKANAI, Japan, April 28 Kyodo - A flock of swans rest in a swamp in Wakkanai on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on April 28, 2024, after flying from the main island of Honshu where they spent the winter. The swans will fly northward to breeding grounds in Siberia. (Kyodo)

Swans in northern Japan

Swans in northern Japan

A flock of swans rest in a swamp in Wakkanai on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on April 28, 2024, after flying from the main island of Honshu where they spent the winter. The swans will fly northward to breeding grounds in Siberia.

Swans in northern Japan

Swans in northern Japan

A flock of swans rest in a swamp in Wakkanai on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on April 28, 2024, after flying from the main island of Honshu where they spent the winter. The swans will fly northward to breeding grounds in Siberia.

Swans in northern Japan

Swans in northern Japan

A flock of swans rest in a swamp in Wakkanai on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on April 28, 2024, after flying from the main island of Honshu where they spent the winter. The swans will fly northward to breeding grounds in Siberia.

Swans in northern Japan

Swans in northern Japan

A flock of swans rest in a swamp in Wakkanai on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on April 28, 2024, after flying from the main island of Honshu where they spent the winter. The swans will fly northward to breeding grounds in Siberia.

Swans in northern Japan

Swans in northern Japan

A flock of swans rest in a swamp in Wakkanai on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on April 28, 2024, after flying from the main island of Honshu where they spent the winter. The swans will fly northward to breeding grounds in Siberia.

Dog sled race in Hokkaido

Dog sled race in Hokkaido

Photo taken on Feb. 25, 2023 shows a scene from a dog sled race in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan.

Dog sled race in Hokkaido

Dog sled race in Hokkaido

Photo taken on Feb. 25, 2023 shows a scene from a dog sled race in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan.

Dog sled race in Hokkaido

Dog sled race in Hokkaido

Photo taken on Feb. 25, 2023 shows a scene from a dog sled race in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan.

Dog sled race in Hokkaido

Dog sled race in Hokkaido

Photo taken on Feb. 25, 2023 shows a scene from a dog sled race in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan.

Memorial service for WWII female post office workers

Memorial service for WWII female post office workers

SAPPORO, Japan - Chieko Kuriyama speaks in front of the photos of her nine former colleagues at a post office in Maoka (currently Kholmsk in Sakhalin, Russia) during a memorial service held for them in Wakkanai on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Aug. 8, 2014. Working as telephone exchange operators, the nine young Japanese women committed suicide by taking poison on the same date in 1945 when Russian forces invaded the town. (Photo by Daisuke Suzuki)

Ferry service to end between north Japan and Sakhalin

Ferry service to end between north Japan and Sakhalin

ASAHIKAWA, Japan - Heart Land Ferry Co.'s ferryboat linking Wakkanai in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and Sakhalin in the Russian Far East is anchored at Wakkanai port on Aug. 13, 2014. The company announced the end of service between the two cities at the end of September due to a continuing deficit.

Memorial remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

Memorial remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

WAKKANAI, Japan - A memorial service is held in Wakkanai in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Aug. 20, 2014, for nine female postal office workers who killed themselves on the same day in 1945 in a town in the southern half of the Russian Far East island of Sakhalin, then controlled by Japan, in the face of an invasion by Soviet troops during the closing days of World War II. The town, then known as Maoka, is called Kholmsk today.

Chorus remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

Chorus remembers suicides of 9 women before Soviet invasion

WAKKANAI, Japan - Women sing in chorus at a memorial service held in Wakkanai in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Aug. 20, 2014, for nine female postal office workers who killed themselves on the same day in 1945 in a town in the southern half of the Russian Far East island of Sakhalin, then controlled by Japan, in the face of an invasion by Soviet troops during the closing days of World War II. The town, then known as Maoka, is called Kholmsk today.

Defense chief Onodera inspects honor guard at northern camp

Defense chief Onodera inspects honor guard at northern camp

WAKKANAI, Japan - Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera inspects an honor guard at the Air Self-Defense Force's camp in Wakkanai in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on July 23, 2014.

Swans rest at Hokkaido swamp before heading back to north

Swans rest at Hokkaido swamp before heading back to north

WAKKANAI, Japan - A flock of swans rest at Onuma swamp in Wakkanai on the northern tip of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, on April 29, 2014, before heading back to the north as Mt. Rishiri with lingering snow stands in the back.

Spotted seals rest at port in Hokkaido, Japan

Spotted seals rest at port in Hokkaido, Japan

WAKKANAI, Japan - Spotted seals, migrating south to pass the winter, rest on snow-capped breakwater blocks at the Bakkai fishing port in Wakkanai on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Feb. 23, 2014.

Japan Cup dogsled race takes place in Hokkaido

Japan Cup dogsled race takes place in Hokkaido

WAKKANAI, Japan - Dogs run in the snow during the Japan Cup 2014 Wakkanai Dogsled Race in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan, on Feb. 22, 2014. The event is the biggest dogsled competition in Japan.

2 Japan cities "marry" to combine specialties

2 Japan cities "marry" to combine specialties

MATSUE, Japan - The mayor of Izumo (C), Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, acts as a go-between in the "marriage" of two cities - Makurazaki, Kagoshima Prefecture, known for dried bonito flakes, and Wakkanai, Hokkaido, known for dried kelp - as "man-and-wife cities" on Feb. 19, 2014, in an effort to promote each other's specialties and revitalize local economic activity. A signing ceremony involving Izumo Mayor Hideto Nagaoka, Makurazaki Mayor Tadashi Kamisono (L) and Wakkanai Mayor Hiroshi Kudo (R) was held at the city hall in Izumo, home to Izumo Taisha, a Shinto shrine which many visit in hopes of making a good match.

Solar power plant

Solar power plant

TOKYO, Japan - Archive photo, taken October 2011, shows a solar power generation facility in Wakkanai, Hokkaido. Some renewable energy suppliers are giving up entering the power market due to grid access problems.

Fire on freighter

Fire on freighter

WAKKANAI, Japan - Photo shows the 497-ton Taigan, a Cambodia-registered freighter docked at Wakkanai port in Hokkaido on May 16, 2013. Bodies believed to be those of six missing Russian crew members were found inside the ship after it took about 11 hours to put out a fire that broke out early in the morning.

Fire on freighter

Fire on freighter

WAKKANAI, Japan - Photo from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a firefighting operation on the 497-ton Taigan, a Cambodia-registered freighter docked at Wakkanai port in Hokkaido on May 16, 2013. Six Russian crew members are missing after a fire broke out early in the morning.

Fire on freighter

Fire on freighter

WAKKANAI, Japan - Photo from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a firefighting operation on the 497-ton Taigan, a Cambodia-registered freighter docked at Wakkanai port in Hokkaido on May 16, 2013. Six Russian crew members are missing after a fire broke out early in the morning.

Venus transit observed in Hokkaido, Tokyo metropolitan area

Venus transit observed in Hokkaido, Tokyo metropolitan area

WAKKANAI, Japan - A bird flies during a transit of Venus (small dot) observed in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, on June 8. A transit takes place when Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun.

Items recovered from downed S. Korean jumbo incinerated

Items recovered from downed S. Korean jumbo incinerated

WAKKANAI, Japan - Two women watch as unclaimed personal effects recovered after a South Korean jumbo jet was shot down by a Soviet fighter in 1983 are incinerated on a seashore in Wakkanai, Hokkaido on Sept. 1.

65-year-old photographer begins walking length of Japan

65-year-old photographer begins walking length of Japan

WAKKANAI, Japan - Bunyo Ishikawa, 65, a photographer known for his coverage of the Vietnam War, leaves Cape Soya on the northern tip of Hokkaido on July 15 to walk the length of Japan.

S. Korean begins trip calling for self-support for the disabled

S. Korean begins trip calling for self-support for the disabled

YAMAGAWA, Japan - Choi Chang Hyun (R), a South Korean from Taegu who suffers from cerebral palsy, leaves Yamagawa, Kagoshima Prefecture, in southern Japan on April 10 for an across-Japan trip to call for self-support by disabled persons. He will arrive at Wakkanai, Hokkaido, in northern Japan in late May or early June.

Hokkaido city of Wakkanai near Russia's Sakhalin

Hokkaido city of Wakkanai near Russia's Sakhalin

Photo taken in the Hokkaido city of Wakkanai, northern Japan, on March 14, 2022, shows a traffic sign written in Japanese, English and Russian. Sakhalin in Russia's far east is only about 40 kilometers from Wakkanai.

Curling: Loco Solare team reaches final Olympic qualifying event

Curling: Loco Solare team reaches final Olympic qualifying event

The Loco Solare women's curling team celebrates after winning the best-of-five series against the Hokkaido Bank team on Sept. 12, 2021, in the Hokkaido city of Wakkanai, northern Japan, advancing to the final qualifying tournament in December in the Netherlands for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. (Pool photo)

Curling: Loco Solare team reaches final Olympic qualifying event

Curling: Loco Solare team reaches final Olympic qualifying event

The Loco Solare team's Satsuki Fujisawa (C) delivers a shot during Game 5 of the best-of-five women's curling series against the Hokkaido Bank team on Sept. 12, 2021, in the Hokkaido city of Wakkanai, northern Japan. (Pool photo)

Curling: Loco Solare team reaches final Olympic qualifying event

Curling: Loco Solare team reaches final Olympic qualifying event

The Loco Solare women's curling team celebrates after winning the best-of-five series against the Hokkaido Bank team on Sept. 12, 2021, in the Hokkaido city of Wakkanai, northern Japan, advancing to the final qualifying tournament in December in the Netherlands for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. (Pool photo)

Venus transit observed in Hokkaido, Tokyo metropolitan area

Venus transit observed in Hokkaido, Tokyo metropolitan area

WAKKANAI, Japan - A bird flies during a transit of Venus (small dot) observed in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, on June 8. A transit takes place when Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun. (Kyodo)

Sea lions on Hokkaido uninhabited isle

WAKKANAI, Japan Kyodo - Photo shows sea lions on Benten Island off Soya Cape in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on Dec. 24, 2020. The marine mammals have appeared around the uninhabited isle from November to June in recent years from near Sakhalin, with thousands of them seen at peak times in spring in search of food.

Japan's largest dog sled race held

Japan's largest dog sled race held

A dog sled joins the Japan's largest dog sled race in the northernmost city of Wakkanai on Feb. 27, 2016. Seventy nine teams participated in the competition from around the country. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japan's largest dog sled race held

Japan's largest dog sled race held

A dog sled joins the Japan's largest dog sled race in the northernmost city of Wakkanai on Feb. 27, 2016. Seventy nine teams participated in the competition from around the country. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

North Japan city eyes joint ferry link to Russia with private sector

North Japan city eyes joint ferry link to Russia with private sector

Hiroshi Kudo, mayor of Wakkanai in the northernmost Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido, briefs the municipal assembly on Oct. 1, 2015, on a plan for a joint venture with the private sector to operate a regular ferry service between the city and Korsakov on the Russian Far Eastern island of Sakhalin. The city aims to resume next June the deficit-running service that its operator ended in September. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Suicides of Japanese women after WWII surrender remembered

Suicides of Japanese women after WWII surrender remembered

Women recite a poem at a memorial service in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan, on Aug. 20, 2015, for nine female telephone operators at a Japanese post office in Maoka, now Kholmsk, on the southern portion of the island of Sakhalin, who committed suicide on Aug. 20, 1945, during a Soviet attack in the area after Japan's surrender in World War II. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Suicides of Japanese women after WWII surrender remembered

Suicides of Japanese women after WWII surrender remembered

Chieko Kuriyama puts her palms together on Aug. 20, 2015, in front of a cenotaph in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, northern Japan, dedicated to nine female telephone operators at a Japanese post office in Maoka, now Kholmsk, on the southern portion of the island of Sakhalin, who committed suicide on Aug. 20, 1945, during a Soviet attack in the area after Japan's surrender in World War II. Kuriyama was a coworker of the nine. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Seminar on cross-border tourism held in Sapporo, northern Japan

Seminar on cross-border tourism held in Sapporo, northern Japan

Panelists discuss cross-border tourism between Wakkanai, a city on the northern tip of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, and Sakhalin in the Russian Far East as well as its role to revitalize local economies during a seminar in the Hokkaido capital of Sapporo on July 24, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Univ. professor speaks on tourism between north Japan, Russia

Univ. professor speaks on tourism between north Japan, Russia

Akihiro Iwashita, a professor at Hokkaido University, speaks about the purpose of cross-border tourism between Wakkanai, a city on the northern tip of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, and Sakhalin in the Russian Far East during a seminar held in the Hokkaido capital of Sapporo on July 24, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Former residents find prewar roots in Russian territory

Former residents find prewar roots in Russian territory

Nozomi Takahashi points to the place on a map where his old family home once stood in Odomari, currently Korsakov in Russia's Far Eastern region of Sakhalin, during an interview in Wakkanai, Hokkaido Prefecture, northern Japan, on June 14, 2015. Takahashi visited his birthplace in Karafuto, currently Sakhalin, for the first time in 76 years with the help of a travel agency in Wakkanai. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Former residents find prewar roots in Russian territory

Former residents find prewar roots in Russian territory

Nozomi Takahashi speaks enthusiastically on June 16, 2015, about his trip earlier in the month to his birthplace in Karafuto, currently Russia's Far Eastern region of Sakhalin, for the first time in 76 years with the help of a travel agency in Wakkanai, Hokkaido Prefecture, northern Japan. Arrangements by the agency included finding the location of Takahashi's old family home based on Japanese address records. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Measures needed to save fish stocks from dwindling further

Measures needed to save fish stocks from dwindling further

File photo taken in February 2015 shows a catch of Okhotsk atka mackerel, commonly known as "hokke" in Japan, landed at a fishing port in Wakkanai on the northern tip of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost prefecture. In addition to a dwindling catch, the average size of the fish caught has also become smaller. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Price of Okhotsk atka mackerel soaring in Japan

Price of Okhotsk atka mackerel soaring in Japan

Photo taken Feb. 21, 2015, shows "hokke," Okhotsk atka mackerel, at Wakkanai Port on Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido. The price of the used-to-be-inexpensive fish is rising due to a significant decrease in catches in Hokkaido and imports. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Price of Okhotsk atka mackerel soaring in Japan

Price of Okhotsk atka mackerel soaring in Japan

Photo taken Feb. 21, 2015, shows "hokke," Okhotsk atka mackerel, at Wakkanai Port on Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido. The price of the used-to-be-inexpensive fish is rising due to a significant decrease in catches in Hokkaido and imports. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Spotted seals rest at Wakkanai port in northern Japan

Spotted seals rest at Wakkanai port in northern Japan

Spotted seals rest on rocks at Bakkai port in Wakkanai in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Feb. 22, 2015. They will return to the north after passing the winter there. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Annual dogsled race on northern tip of Japanese archipelago

Annual dogsled race on northern tip of Japanese archipelago

Dogs dash for the goal on a snowfield in Wakkanai, the northern tip of Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido, on the Wakkanai leg of the 32nd national dogsled race on Feb. 21, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Annual dogsled race on northern tip of Japanese archipelago

Annual dogsled race on northern tip of Japanese archipelago

Dogs run like the wind in the 32nd national dogsled race in Wakkanai on Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido on Feb. 21, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japan aquarium takes up challenge of breeding endangered penguin

Japan aquarium takes up challenge of breeding endangered penguin

Photo taken Jan. 21, 2016 shows Hidenori Takai, the leader of a seven-member team at Wakkanai Noshappu Aquarium in Hokkaido that has taken up the challenge of breeding the endangered Humboldt penguin. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo