Death toll from snowstorm rises to 23

Everyone should buy a solar panel.... and a few marine batteries.

What do plan on doing with that.....? Charging up your iphone is about all that's good for? Just get a generator...

That depends on the size of the solar panel and the definition of "a few". Certainly a decent sized solar panel and 3 or 4 marine batteries plus inverter will do much much more than charge your 'phone, it will run your house for a while.

It`s unfortunate that so many died from the inclement weather but there was information many days prior to the storms and people should have paid attention to it and not gone out. Now the news is just sensationalizing all the stupiduty as if everyone is proud of all problems. Japan seems to be the only place that is proud of their ridiculous traffic jams and bad driving.

With the price of petrol, it is probably more cost effective to setup a backup system with solar, hydro, wind, etc. Just need a way to change the batteries for when you need them. But, I thought most Japanese still use old fashion heaters using kerosene. No central heating here.

Now the news is just sensationalizing all the stupiduty as if everyone is proud of all problems

And the Oscar for insensitivity goes to....

Apparently, it doesn't matter what one does under such circumstances, either you freeze to death (for lack of gasoline) or you die of carbon monoxide poisoning... I feel really sorry for all those who lost loved ones because of a freak snowstorm in an "unprepared" region.

Now the news is just sensationalizing all the stupiduty as if everyone is proud of all problems. Japan seems to be the only place that is proud of their ridiculous traffic jams and bad driving.

You must have never watched the news in other countries.

Solar panels? Seriously? Most of these deaths and injuries could have been avoided if Japan had the infrastructure to combat this 'mild' snow fall. The north of Japan gets 3-4 meters of snow every year, but it doesn't kill so many people due having support like, road clearing crews, heated footpaths and a culture that has evolved in heavy snow. However, the Kanto region, which does get regular snowfalls, falls to pieces and shuts down after 30cm of snow. It's back to the good old 'shoganai' mentality. If the local councils and prefectural governments of the Kanto region instigated road clearing and salting crews, had other crews clearing footpaths, put snow plowing devices onto the front of trains the cities would not shut down in a very mild snow storm. I am quite disappointed that, a huge area in such a supposedly 'modern' country that receives regular snowfalls completely falls to pieces after a few centimeters of snow.

Most of these deaths and injuries could have been avoided if Japan had the infrastructure to combat this 'mild' snow fall.

"Mild" snowfall? You call the highest recorded snowfall in 120 years of record keeping "mild"?

For the first snowfall, Chiba got more snow in 12 hours than it does in a few years combined!

DisillusionedFeb. 19, 2014 - 01:10PM JST

if Japan had the infrastructure to combat this 'mild' snow fall

The snow fall in Kofu which is the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture is 1.14 meters. 1.14M is heavy by any standard. http://www.tenki.jp/forecaster/diary/y_nakagawa/2014/02/15/7861.html

The snow fall in Tokyo was 27 cm which is mild, and we do not have much trouble.

I am quite disappointed that, a huge area in such a supposedly 'modern' country that receives regular snowfalls completely falls to pieces after a few centimeters of snow.

You're not from a country that gets snow, are you?

Back in 1999, there was a snowstorm that dropped similar amounts from Chicago to Quebec City. About a half dozen international airports were shut down, rail traffic stopped everywhere, highways impassable, roofs collapsing under the weight of the snow, power outages all over the place, travelers stranded everywhere and something like 70 deaths. Toronto was so overwhelmed by 30cm of snow that they had to call in the armed forces to shovel. Pretty much exactly what we've been reading over the last few days.

And that wasn't even a particularly severe storm, if you look back over the last 100 years. If Chicago and Toronto could barely cope, why on earth would you expect Tokyo to be able to?

CH3CHO - The snow fall in Tokyo was 27 cm which is mild, and we do not have much trouble

Didn't have much trouble? Really? Tell that to the thousands of people stranded by cancelled trains and flights or the tens of thousands stuck in traffic for hours on end! And how about the handful of people that died and the hundreds hospitalized in Tokyo? Nah, not much trouble at all! :P

And, as for Yamanashi: It receives over a meter of snow every winter. Is it just the few extra centimeters that shut the city down?

@Pandebelle,

If a storm is coming stay off the road. Easy. So the Oscar for being stupid goes to drivers of the hundreds of cars stuck on the highway for days and still not getting to where you wanted to go.

@Strangerland,

We are not talking about other countries.

@pointofview,

You may not have a choice! If you are a delivery driver and you must make a delivery, you have little choice. I doubt many were on pleasure cruises.

@Disillusioned

And, as for Yamanashi: It receives over a meter of snow every winter. Is it just the few extra centimeters that shut the city down?

It received its annual snowfall in less than a day. I drink over a thousand liters of water a year; if I drink that in a day I will surely be dead.

Today was a warmer day with much of the snow melting. But, that includes snow on unreachable rooves like our home. Saturday, a lattice fence broke, a gutter broke and hit an electric wire. Today, with the warmth came the crash of snow that had turned to ice. 50 cm of ice. I am still waiting for more to come or at least harden and stop until tomorrow. I have one more family to make sure comeshome safely and avoids being around our home. Put signs out but I have to be out there when the newspaper and postal carriers come. Another gutter and corner piece tore off. Veranda roof is broken. Thank goodness no one has been hurt. Window on room we rent cannot be fixed until roads are better. This is really a costly storm. But, we are safe and warm. Helicopters going over all day. One local supermarket had food but that is because they are going to get supplies themselves! People are not hoarding in our area.

"And, as for Yamanashi: It receives over a meter of snow every winter. Is it just the few extra centimeters that shut the city down?"

Well, I can say that we live near the affected area and have similar problems and received 1 plus meter of snow that part of the problem was that the 70cm we received the previous week had not melted enough and on the rooves, many still had almost the same amount of snow when the new "shipment" arrived. The town I frequent in Yamanashi did not have enough places to dump the snow and was still recovering and is in a real bind. I cannot get a repairperson to get in to fix my broken window there. The snow from the previous week was becoming ice under the weight of the new snow. Many kindergartens and schools are still not open in Kanagawa and Yamanashi. Perhaps if the 1 meter of snow had happened first and no more additional snow accumulated, this could just be a pain in the neck. But, this second snow was full of water and heavy. It freezes fast. I had hoped to get rid of the snow from our roof today. As it is, I have to watch it tomorrow all day and hope no one is injured and hope it doesn't take the other gutters and balcony down with it. Just got a package from Kuroneko; took hours to get here the driver said.

DisillusionedFeb. 19, 2014 - 02:48PM JST

And, as for Yamanashi: It receives over a meter of snow every winter.

No, that is not true. The 30 year average of yearly total snow fall in Kofu Yamanashi is 29 cm. http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=49&prec_ch=%8ER%97%9C%8C%A7&block_no=47638&block_ch=%8Db%95%7B&year=&month=&day=&elm=normal&view=

114 cm of snow fall in that 24 hour period is about as much as the snow that would fall over 4 year period.