Snow!

Mt. Fuji has been snow-capped since November.

Today, Tokyo was capped in snow.

The snow highlighted the mountains to the west. I could actually see them this morning.

Look closely through the wires and beyond.

Funny, no birds were sitting on the wires this morning.

Snow Curls

Later in the day, the snow on our roof began to curl...

because of the snow guards.

Click on the photos to enlarge them. Click on the label "roof" below to see a post about our neighbor's roof guards.

Covered

Uncovered.

Neighbor's Roof

I took this picture of our neighbor's roof from our kitchen window yesterday. It was raining and we couldn't go out to see koinobori.

This isn't a traditional tile roof. These tiles or shingles are made of metal. The aluminum crescents near the edge are to hold snow. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

I zoomed in and saw for the first time that the snow guards have tulips on them.

Click on this link and the labels below for more information:

Kids Web Japan--koinobori

The Streets of a Small Town in Niigata Prefecture

Our destination was a friend's house in a small town in Niigata Prefecture (district) in northern Japan. There is a lot of snow in the area during the winter. The streets and some of the houses have a water system that melts the snow so it doesn't have to be shoveled. These water spouts are along most of the streets here. We have visited the area during the winter and I remember seeing water gurgling out of these spouts along the center of the road.




All that water from melted snow has to go somewhere. Here is a gutter for drainage along the edge of the street. It is covered with concrete slabs with slits in them.




I have always wanted to go around Tokyo to all the different districts and take pictures of the manhole covers. They are all different. Some are very elaborate. Here is a manhole cover from Niigata Prefecture. It is a very nice one. There are mountains and azaleas and a watermelon. A charcoal rubbing would be a nice souvenir. The streets in this town aren't so busy, but there are some manholes on the sidewalk that would make it easier and safer to do.