Japan has some of the heaviest snowfalls of any industrialized country, as the photos below will attest. The "Japanese Alps" are the mountainous backbone of Honshu, the country's main island. Each winter, moisture-laden easterly clouds cross the Sea of Japan and bump up against Honshu's rugged terrain. The result: deep snow.
During the winter, residents of the Murodo area must take extraordinary measures to live. Buildings have special doors on the second story to enable them to enter and leave; the occupants must shovel snow from their roofs to prevent their homes from collapsing under the snow's weight. It's not the most carefree places to live during the winter, but evidently the tourist dollars from winter-related recreation are enough to keep them there.
In some places, though, the roads remain blocked for months. The Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route may reach depths of 20 meters (about 60 feet). Eventually the snowplows do blast through, forming spectacular canyons. Until the entire length of the road melts, usually by mid-June, the canyon is a tourist attraction. Each year about 1 million sightseers take buses to walk along a short length of the road.
So, if you think your winter is rough, take a look at what late spring looks like in Murodo.
