Does It Snow in Japan? Regional Snowfall Guide for Visitors and Property Owners

Snow in Japan ranges from some of the heaviest on Earth to almost none, depending on where you are. Sapporo, in Hokkaido, averages nearly 6 meters (20 feet) of snow a year and sees snowfall on more than 140 days, making it one of the snowiest large cities in the world.

Tokyo, just 1,000 kilometers south, gets snow on only 1 to 2 days a year on average, and it rarely sticks.

In between sits a wide band of terrain, from the Sea of Japan coast to the Japanese Alps, where heavy snowfall shapes daily life, tourism, and property maintenance for six months of the year.

This guide breaks down where snow falls, how much, when the snow season starts and ends, and what it means if you are visiting, moving, or managing a property in Japan from abroad.

Japan snowfall: Quick facts

Snowfall by region in Japan

Japan ranks among the world's snowiest countries when measured by peak regional accumulation, even though large sections of the country barely see a flake.

Sapporo, Aomori, and Toyama are consistently ranked among the snowiest cities in the world, with Aomori's average of 792 cm the highest annual snowfall of any city in Japan.

In the most extreme mountain and coastal snowbelt locations, annual snowfall can reach 762 cm to 1,524 cm (25 to 50 feet), among the heaviest totals recorded anywhere on Earth.

Why does Japan get so much snow?

Image source: Photography by Jonathan Weeks (Akita, Japan)

Japan's heavy snow comes from cold Siberian air picking up moisture over the Sea of Japan, then dropping it as snow when it hits the mountains along the west coast.

In winter, dry, frigid air masses form over Siberia and move east across the sea, picking up moisture as they cross its relatively warm water. This is the same "sea effect" process that gives Hokkaido's ski resorts their famously dry, powdery snow.

When that moisture-loaded air collides with the Japanese Alps and the mountain ranges running down the west coast, it's forced upward, cools rapidly, and drops the bulk of its moisture as snow, burying Hokkaido, Tohoku, and Hokuriku while leaving Tokyo and the rest of the Pacific coast largely dry in the mountains' rain shadow.

Conditions vary storm to storm, but this same mechanism also explains why the region's snow tends to be lighter and drier than the wet, heavy snow common in warmer coastal climates elsewhere.

Does it snow in Tokyo?

Tokyo averages just 1 to 2 snow days per year, almost always in January or February. When snow does fall, it is usually a thin, wet layer that melts within a day, but the disruption is disproportionate to the accumulation. Japan's capital is ill-equipped for snow: most homes lack insulated pipes rated for hard freezes, most residents do not own snow tires or chains, and train operators slow services at the first sign of accumulation.

Tokyo gets so little snow for the same reason covered above: the Japanese Alps sit between the city and the Sea of Japan, so most of the moisture-heavy storms that bury the west coast have already dropped their snow on the mountains before any air reaches Kanto.

The 2025-2026 winter season illustrated this split clearly. In February 2026, snow accumulation in Aomori City reached 183 centimeters (72 inches) on the ground, breaking a 40-year-old record and prompting Japan's Self-Defense Forces to deploy for snow-clearing support for the first time in 21 years, while Tokyo itself saw only light, short-lived snow that same week.

If you live in or are visiting Tokyo in winter, the practical advice is simple: stock up on basics before a forecasted snow day, check train schedules the morning of, and avoid driving on the rare occasions snow does settle, since the city has little salt or plowing infrastructure.

Does it snow in Kyoto and Osaka?

Kyoto sees occasional light snow between December and February, typically 5 to 15 centimeters a year. It rarely accumulates for more than a day, but when it does settle on temple roofs and gardens, it is considered one of the more photogenic winter sights in the Kansai region.

Osaka, being more coastal, gets even less snow than Kyoto. Its position on Osaka Bay keeps average winter temperatures a few degrees higher, and most years pass with no measurable snow accumulation at all. Nara, slightly more inland and at a higher elevation than Osaka, tends to see marginally more snow than either neighbor.

Snowfall in western Japan is rare but not impossible. Surprise accumulations in 2021 and 2024 caused localized property damage and travel disruption in the Kansai area, catching residents and property owners off guard precisely because heavy snow is not something the region plans for.

Japan's snow country: Yukiguni and the Sea of Japan Coast

The stretch of coastline from Niigata up through Akita is known in Japanese as yukiguni (雪国), literally "snow country." This region receives some of the heaviest urban snowfall anywhere in the world, a direct result of the cold air and moisture mechanism described above meeting the Japanese Alps and Tohoku's mountainous terrain head-on.

The 2025-2026 winter made the scale of this snowfall difficult to ignore even outside Japan.

In late January 2026, Sapporo surpassed one meter of total snow accumulation for the first time since 2022, while the Hakkoda mountain range in Aomori Prefecture reached around 4.5 meters of snow depth.

By February 3, 2026, Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed 30 deaths and 324 injuries nationwide since January 20, most during snow-clearing work, with Niigata Prefecture reporting the most fatalities at 12.

Days later, Aomori Prefecture reported snow accumulation reaching 4.7 meters, with Niigata, Yamagata, and Sapporo all passing the one-meter mark, and Fukui and Ishikawa prefectures reporting dozens of snow-related injuries and vehicle accidents.

For anyone who owns or is considering property in this region, snow removal is not optional. In many yukiguni municipalities, homeowners are responsible by custom, and in some cases by local ordinance, for clearing snow from their own roofs before it builds to a dangerous load, a set of obligations and costs covered in detail below.

Winter festivals and ski resorts in Japan

For visitors chasing snow rather than avoiding it, northern Japan offers some of the best powder snow and winter festivals anywhere.

The Sapporo Snow Festival, held every February, draws large crowds to see enormous ice sculptures and snow statues built along Odori Park.

In Hokkaido's port town of Otaru, the Otaru Snow Light Path festival lines the old canal and side streets with rows of small candlelit snow lanterns each February, creating one of the country's most atmospheric winter wonderlands. The Asahikawa Winter Festival, held around the same time in central Hokkaido, features Japan's largest snow sculpture, a structure that has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest snow sculpture ever built.

Ski resorts across Hokkaido and the Japanese Alps are known internationally for dry, fluffy, powdery snow, a byproduct of the same cold, dry air masses that create the region's extreme totals.

Niseko and Furano in Hokkaido and the resorts around Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture regularly rank among the best ski destinations in the world for this reason, offering everything from groomed runs to backcountry powder and snowmobile rides through the mountains.

Elsewhere in Tohoku, Mount Zao on the Yamagata-Miyagi border is famous for its juhyo, or "snow monsters," fir trees engulfed in wind-blown ice that form ghostly, towering shapes across the mountainside.

From late December to early March, these snow monsters are lit up for evening viewing during the Zao Juhyo Festival, and visitors can view them by ropeway, snowshoe, or ski run.

Further inland, Akita's Yokote region is known for kamakura, igloo-like snow houses built each winter and lit from within by candles, traditionally used to host small shrines and offer rice cakes to visitors.

In Nagano Prefecture, Japanese macaques, often called snow monkeys, gather in natural hot springs at Jigokudani Monkey Park, soaking in open-air baths surrounded by snow, a sight found nowhere else in the world.

What heavy snow means for property owners in Japan

Snow adds a set of maintenance and legal obligations that apply to any property owner in a heavy-snow region and just as much to foreign owners managing an akiya (空き家), or vacant house, from abroad as to full-time residents.

Roof snow removal for property owners

Wet snow weighs roughly 300 to 500 kilograms per cubic meter, so 2 meters of accumulation on a 100 square meter roof can add 60 to 100 tonnes of weight, comparable to a loaded freight truck sitting on the structure.

Japan sees deaths every winter from rooftop snow-clearing accidents and from structural collapses on homes where snow was left unmanaged. For an owner who does not live on site, this means arranging a local contractor before winter arrives, not after the first storm.

How to tell if your roof requires manual snow removal

Whether a roof needs manual clearing at all depends on its pitch and its coating. Steep-pitched roofs, generally 30 degrees or more, are built to let snow shed on its own (shizen rakusetsu, 自然落雪), and this is the design most traditional homes in yukiguni use to avoid manual snow removal entirely.

Flatter or low-pitch roofs, common on modern and urban homes, are usually built as "snow-retaining" (taisetsu, 耐雪) roofs instead, meaning the structure is engineered to hold the load rather than shed it, which is precisely the design that requires active clearing.

However, roof coating matters just as much as pitch. Many snow-country homes use a specialized slippery roof paint (kassetsu toryo, 滑雪塗料, "sliding-snow coating") that reduces friction so snow slides off even on a moderate slope, but this coating wears down over years of UV exposure and freeze-thaw cycles.

A roof that shed snow easily when it was newly painted can start holding snow again as the coating ages, so a property with no history of snow buildup can start needing manual clearing after a few winters if the roof hasn't been recoated.

For a buyer or remote owner, it's worth asking directly about both the roof's pitch and when it was last repainted or recoated, since either factor alone can be the difference between a roof that clears itself and one that needs a service call after every storm.

Preparing a property before snow season

Most of the work that keeps a property safe through winter happens before the first snowfall, not during it. Snow-country households and property managers typically move through the same checklist each year.

1. Protect the windows with amado or yukigakoi.

Many traditional Japanese homes have built-in sliding storm shutters (amado, 雨戸) that cover the windows, originally meant for typhoons but just as useful against wind-blown ice and heavy snow pressing on the glass.

Homes without amado, especially those with large windows or sliding glass doors (掃き出し窓), more often use yukigakoi (雪囲い): wooden boards or corrugated polycarbonate panels fitted into brackets mounted outside the window each autumn and removed in spring, specifically to stop falling or sliding roof snow from shattering the glass.

Either way, the shutters or boards should go up before the first heavy snow, and the brackets or tracks are worth checking each year for rust or wear.

2. Protect garden trees with fuyugakoi (冬囲い).

Wet, heavy snow breaks branches, so snow-country gardeners wrap or brace trees each autumn using rope, bamboo, or straw mats, generically called fuyugakoi. Taller or stiffer-branched trees like pine typically get yukitsuri (雪吊り), the rope-suspension technique famously seen at Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa, where branches are tied up to a central pole so snow weight can't snap them.

For a smaller garden, simple rope wrapping or a bamboo cone around each tree accomplishes the same thing. This is usually done in October in Hokkaido, November in Tohoku and Hokuriku, and as late as December in Kanto.

3. Stock supplies before the first storm, not during it.

Japanese disaster-preparedness guidance for heavy snow consistently recommends the same basics:

• 3 to 7 days of food and water
• kerosene or another heating fuel in case of a prolonged power outage
• a battery-powered radio and spare batteries or a power bank
• disposable hand warmers (kairo) and blankets
• portable gas stove with spare canisters for cooking if the power goes out.

Snow shovels, anti-slip sand, and a snow-melting agent for walkways are worth having on hand before the season starts as well, since hardware stores in snow-belt towns routinely sell out of them once the first serious storm is forecast.

4. Have snow removal equipment serviced ahead of time.

A snowblower that hasn't been started since last winter or a roof heating system that hasn't been tested is the wrong thing to discover during the first heavy snowfall. Both are worth a check or a service call in early autumn, well before the mid-November tire swap and snow-prep rush makes appointments harder to get.

For a remote owner, the practical takeaway is timing: everything on this list is easy to arrange in October and much harder to arrange in December once the whole region is doing the same thing at once.

What it takes to remove snow from a property

Snow removal in a heavy-snow region isn't one task, it's a small system of equipment, labor, and local logistics that a property needs every winter.

Here's what that system typically looks like.

Roof heating system (yusetsu sochi, 融雪装置)

Electric or hot-water coils built into or laid over the roof that melt snow as it falls, so it never accumulates to a dangerous load in the first place. Installation runs roughly 1 to 3 million yen, with running costs of about 30,000 to 80,000 yen a month during snow season. It's the most expensive option upfront, but it removes the single most dangerous maintenance task from the equation entirely, which is why many buyers in yukiguni budget for one at purchase rather than adding it later.

Snowblower (josetsuki, 除雪機)

For properties without roof heating, a gas-powered snowblower is close to essential if there is a driveway or approach path longer than about 10 meters.

New units run 200,000 to 800,000 yen, used units 100,000 to 400,000 yen, and owners should budget separately for fuel, annual servicing, and covered storage.

Snow rake or roof shovel (yukioroshi)

For single-story roofs or lighter accumulation, a long-handled snow rake lets you pull snow off from ground level rather than climbing up, which is by far the safer approach when the snow load is still manageable.

Daily hand shoveling

Even with a roof system or snowblower in place, walkways, entrances, and areas machinery can't reach still need manual clearing, typically 30 to 60 minutes a day during a heavy snow stretch.

A local snow-clearing service

Professional snow removal in snow country regions typically runs 10,000 to 30,000 yen per session, or 30,000 to 80,000 yen a month for regular clearing through the winter, though not every property management company serves foreign owners or communicates in English. Given how many of Japan's winter fatalities come from homeowners clearing their own roofs, hiring a local crew is often the safer choice, not just the more convenient one.

Access to a municipal snow dump site

Cleared snow has to go somewhere. Many towns in snow country designate specific dump areas or riverbanks where residents are permitted to pile or truck excess snow, rather than leaving it to accumulate indefinitely on private land. This is worth confirming with the municipal office or a local agent before buying, since some properties have easy access and others require hauling snow some distance.

Altogether, a snow-country property typically adds roughly 320,000 to 940,000 yen (about $2,100 to $6,200) a year on top of standard property tax, insurance, and general upkeep, depending on how much of the work is automated with a roof heating system versus handled through a paid local service.

For a remote owner, the practical decision is which combination to commit to: a roof heating system plus occasional professional checks or a fully outsourced arrangement with a local snow-clearing contract.

Retrofitting a heating system mid-winter, after the first heavy storm, is far pricier and disruptive than planning for one at purchase.

Do you need snow tires in Japan?

There is no single nationwide law requiring winter tires on every car in Japan, but drivers in and around the snow belt should not treat that as optional. Under the Road Traffic Act, driving on snow-covered or icy roads without adequate tires or chains counts as unsafe driving, and several prefectures enforce this rule directly with their own regulations, road signage, and fines.

Where switching to winter tires is effectively mandatory:

• Niigata Prefecture posts "winter equipment required" (fuyuyou taiya kisei, 冬用タイヤ規制) signs on designated mountain roads once snow or ice covers the surface. Ignoring them can mean an on-the-spot fine.
• Nagano Prefecture enforces similar rules on mountain passes and the access roads leading to ski resort towns like Hakuba, generally in effect from December through March.
• Tohoku prefectures, including Aomori, Iwate, Yamagata, Akita, Miyagi, and Fukushima, apply winter tire requirements on major highways and mountain routes from late November through early April, with local police carrying out random roadside checks.
• Gifu Prefecture explicitly bans driving on snowy or icy roads with regular tires under its Road Traffic Law Enforcement Regulations, a rule frequently cited around the mountain town of Takayama.
• Expressway operators can impose a "winter tire restriction" or a stricter "snow chain restriction" during and after snowfall, most often on mountain sections of the Chuo and Hokuriku expressways. Once a chain restriction is called, vehicles without chains are turned away from that stretch of road regardless of what tires they're running.

What counts as winter tires: Japan uses studless winter tires (studded tires have been banned nationwide since the early 1990s due to road dust concerns), identifiable by the mountain snowflake symbol on the sidewall. All-season tires marked "M+S" look similar but are not considered adequate substitutes in heavy snow or ice.

How to switch to winter tires in Japan

Changing to winter tires in Japan is simpler than in many countries because almost any gasoline stand (gasorin sutando, ガソリンスタンド) offers tire-swap service, not just dedicated garages or dealerships.

Most drivers in snow-belt regions keep a second set of wheels already mounted with studless winter tires, so the swap is a matter of switching whole wheels rather than remounting tires onto the same rims each season.

• Where to go: Full-service gas stations, tire chains like Autobacs and Yellow Hat, car dealerships, and local mechanics all offer the service. A full-service gas stand is usually the fastest and most convenient option if you already own a set of winter wheels, since you can often get it done the same day you fill up.
• How long it takes: Roughly 30 to 60 minutes if your winter tires are already mounted on their own wheels, since it is a straightforward wheel swap. It takes longer, sometimes closer to an hour or two, if the same wheels need to have tires removed and remounted each season, since that adds a dismounting and balancing step.
• What it costs: Expect roughly 1,500 to 3,000 yen per tire for mounting and balancing at a gas station or tire shop if you already own the winter tires, so around 6,000 to 12,000 yen for a full set of four. Costs run higher if you need tires removed and remounted onto shared rims each season, and higher again if you're buying new studless tires outright rather than swapping in a set you already own.
• Book ahead in mid-November: Mid-to-late November is the busiest tire-swap window nationwide, as most of Honshu switches over in that same few-week stretch once the first cold snaps and early snow warnings arrive. Gas stations and tire shops in Tohoku, Hokuriku, and the Japan Alps routinely fill their appointment slots during this period, and walk-in service becomes unreliable without a reservation. Hokkaido residents tend to switch earlier, often through October, while Kanto and western Japan typically wait until late November or early December. Booking a week or two ahead of your region's typical switch date avoids the worst of the rush.

For visitors renting a car: Rental companies in Hokkaido fit winter tires automatically from roughly November through March. If you're picking up a car in a snow-free area like Tokyo or Osaka but driving north or into the mountains, you generally need to request winter tires specifically when booking, since switching tires after arrival is rarely possible and driving into snow country without them can void your rental agreement.

For residents and property owners: If your Japanese property is in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku, or the Japan Alps, budget for a seasonal tire swap as a standing annual cost, either through a local garage that stores your summer tires and mounts winter ones each year, or, if the car sits unused much of the winter, through a service that keeps it road-ready for when you or a caretaker actually need it.

How Japanese cities clear snow from the roads

In snow-belt municipalities, road clearing is handled by the city or prefecture, not left to residents, and it almost always happens overnight rather than during the day.

Most cities dispatch snow removal trucks (josetsusha, 除雪車) once forecast or measured snowfall reaches a set threshold, commonly around 10 centimeters, and crews work through the night on a set schedule of routes.

In Sapporo, for example, dozens of trucks head out around midnight and spend 5 to 8 hours clearing their assigned sections. Many smaller cities in Niigata and Nagano start even earlier, sometimes by 3 a.m., specifically so that main roads and sidewalks are passable before the morning commute and school run.

The target completion time in most snow-country cities is 6:30 to 7:00 a.m., timed deliberately around when people start heading out for the day. If snowfall is heavy or continuous, crews work in rotating shifts around the clock instead, and cities may skip a morning clearing run altogether if they judge they cannot finish before the commute, picking it up again during the day or overnight instead.

It’s also worth knowing that plowed snow gets pushed to the roadside, which can bury a car parked on the street or block a driveway entrance that wasn't cleared separately, and clearing that pushed-back snow is generally the resident's own responsibility, not the city's.

How MailMate helps property owners through winter

Managing a Japanese property through snow season from overseas comes with a specific set of headaches: finding an English-speaking contractor for roof clearing, keeping insurance and utilities in order, and staying on top of property tax while you're thousands of miles away. That's why services like MailMate exist.

a. Bilingual staff

MailMate's bilingual staff are fluent in Japanese and English and can serve as a trusted communication bridge between you and whichever local service you need, whether that's a snow removal crew, an insurer, or the municipal office. If a storm damages your roof or a pipe freezes, let MailMate know, and the team will contact the right local company and coordinate the visit on your behalf.

b. Coordinated snow removal and property management

Keep your property up and running through MailMate's property management and domestic point of contact services, built for owners managing a Japanese property from overseas. MailMate helps with the following and more:

• Coordinating roof and driveway snow removal with local crews
• Setting up and confirming fire and snow-load insurance coverage
• Scheduling routine property checks and maintenance through winter
• Setting up and managing utilities

MailMate acts as your communication bridge, contacting services on your behalf so you're not the one fielding calls during a storm.

c. Tax representative service

Once you own property in Japan, you're responsible for property-related taxes, including notices that arrive by post during the snowiest months of the year. Paying Japanese tax bills can be difficult when you're not in Japan to receive or read them. If you make MailMate your tax representative, they'll handle the paperwork to keep you and your property compliant, no matter how deep the snow gets.

Frequently asked questions

Does it snow in Japan?

Yes. Snowfall in Japan ranges from extreme in Hokkaido and the Sea of Japan coast, where several meters accumulate each winter, to minimal in Tokyo and Kansai, to nonexistent in subtropical Okinawa. The short answer depends entirely on which region you mean.

Does it snow in Tokyo?

Tokyo averages only 1 to 2 snow days per year, usually in January or February, and accumulation is typically light and short-lived. The city's location on the Pacific side of the Japanese Alps shields it from most of the moisture-heavy storms that bury the Sea of Japan coast.

Does it snow in Kyoto?

Kyoto sees occasional light snow between December and February, averaging around 5 to 15 centimeters a year. Heavy snowfall is uncommon but not unheard of, and light snow on temple grounds is considered a seasonal highlight for visitors.

What is the snowiest city in Japan?

Sapporo is generally considered the snowiest large city in the world, averaging nearly 6 meters of snow across more than 140 snow days a year. Smaller cities and towns along the Tohoku coast, including parts of Aomori Prefecture, can see even higher totals during a heavy winter.

What is yukiguni?

Yukiguni (雪国), meaning "snow country," refers to the Sea of Japan coastal region stretching from Niigata north through Akita, known for receiving some of the heaviest annual snowfall of any populated area on Earth.

Why does Japan get so much snow on one side of the country but not the other?

Cold, dry air masses moving east from Siberia pick up moisture crossing the Sea of Japan, then collide with the Japanese Alps and Tohoku's mountain ranges, dumping heavy snow on the west coast side. The Pacific side, including Tokyo, sits in the rain shadow of those same mountains and stays largely dry.

Can I buy an akiya in a snow country region?

Yes, foreigners face no legal restriction on buying property anywhere in Japan, including heavy-snow regions. Be prepared for the structural realities that come with it: roof snow removal obligations, higher maintenance costs, and the need for a local management contact if you plan to own the property remotely.

When does snow season start and end in Japan?

Snow season generally starts in late November in Hokkaido and the mountains, peaks from late December through mid-February, and eases by late March in most regions, though high-elevation areas can hold snow into April or later.

Do I need snow tires to drive in Japan?

There is no single nationwide law requiring winter tires everywhere, but prefectures across Hokkaido, Tohoku, Niigata, and Nagano enforce their own winter tire rules with signage, checks, and fines, and expressway operators can restrict certain routes to vehicles with winter tires or chains during snowfall. Driving on snow or ice without them is treated as unsafe driving under the Road Traffic Act regardless of local signage.

In closing

Snow in Japan is really two very different stories happening at once: a light dusting that shuts down Tokyo for a day, and a genuine, months-long season in the north that shapes how homes are built, insured, and maintained. Whichever end of that range applies to you, the practical takeaway is the same. If you are visiting, check regional forecasts rather than assuming Japan-wide conditions. If you own or are considering property in a heavy-snow region, budget for removal costs and structural upkeep from day one.