In the Japanese tourism world, Sapporo, capital city of the mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, is famous for its beer, skiing and annual Sapporo Snow Festival featuring enormous ice sculptures. Hokkaido had heavy snow Friday, with Sapporo observing the heaviest snowfall in 50 years for December, and nearly 50,000 people were affected after air and railway traffic was disrupted.
Snefaldet i præfekturets hovedstad nåede 96 cm (over 37 tommer) fra fredag kl. 9 og toppede 90 cm for første gang i december siden 1966.
Tung sne tvang flyselskaber til at aflyse mere end 260 flyvninger, der forbinder New Chitose Lufthavn, syd for Sapporo, og andre steder, ifølge lufthavnsoperatøren. Hokkaido Railway Co. sagde også, at det aflyste over 380 togtjenester.
Stærk vind forårsagede strømafbrydelse i omkring 3,800 hjem i byen Erimo og en del af Samani by.
