Japan Braces for a Deadly Cold Wave: Tokyo Faces Unprecedented Chill in March

“I seriously felt the danger to my life.”

“I am in my 50s, but I have never seen such terrifying snow. My father, in his 80s, also said, ‘This is the heaviest snow I’ve ever experienced.’ I seriously felt the danger to my life.”

This was said by Seichi Kobayashi, the owner of “Kobayashi Orchard” in Yahataham, Ehime Prefecture.

A cold wave is sweeping across the Japanese archipelago. The damage is not limited to northern Japan. Even over Shikoku, an area that typically sees little snow, cold air with temperatures as low as -12°C flowed in during early February.

“Due to the heavy snow, what usually takes 15 minutes to drive home took me two hours by car. Some employees were stranded and had to spend the night in their cars, shivering from the cold. Even with snow tires, it was useless on the slopes due to slipping. At my house, snow piled up in front of the entrance, and I was temporarily unable to go outside. Snow accumulated on the roof and fell with a loud ‘boom!’ in the middle of the night, waking me up,” said Seichi Kobayashi.

Why is the cold wave covering all of Japan? Professor Yoshihiro Tachibana from the Faculty of Bioresources at Mie University, an expert on climate change, explains:

“Due to global warming, the jet stream is more likely to meander. Near Japan, the jet stream dips southward, completely covering the islands. A powerful cold wave from the Arctic is flowing into this region. The sky over Japan is the coldest place in the world. Last summer, the temperature was the highest ever recorded, causing sea temperatures to rise unusually. The greater the temperature difference between the air and sea, the more water vapor increases, resulting in heavy snow.”

There is another characteristic of this cold wave: the formation of a linear snowfall band. Meteorologist Koji Murayama explains:

“The severe cold winds from Siberia split at Mount Baekdu (2,744 meters), the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, and then rejoin over the Sea of Japan, intensifying the activity. The fierce linear snowfall band formed here passes through the Kanmon Strait, bringing heavy snow to Shikoku and Kyushu.”

 

The killer cold wave will soon hit Tokyo!

At Murodo Hira in Toyama Prefecture, a snow depth of 7 meters was recorded. In Shikoku and Kyushu, several tens of centimeters of snow have accumulated, mainly in the mountainous areas. According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, at least 13 people have died and 173 have been injured due to the cold wave that began in early February. The unknown “Killer Cold Wave” is expected to soon hit Tokyo as well.

“On the Sea of Japan side, and in Shikoku and Kyushu, snow clouds are being carried in by northwesterly winds, causing heavy snowfall. In Tokyo, even though the northwesterly winds blow, the snow clouds are blocked by the Chichibu and other mountain ranges, so they don’t make it into the city. However, if the wind shifts to the northeast, it’s a different story. Active snow clouds could reach Tokyo, bringing record-breaking snow. In fact, northeast winds do blow several times a year, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the heavy snow from the Sea of Japan side also hit Tokyo,” said Professor Tachibana.

Meteorologist Koji Murayama pointed out another danger.

“A whiteout, where you can’t see anything just a step ahead, can occur in blizzards. In January 2019, in Tōbetsu Town, Hokkaido, there was an incident where residents froze to death just a few centimeters before their house’s entrance because they couldn’t see in the blizzard. This could happen in Tokyo as well.”

Even as March arrives and temperatures rise, it doesn’t seem like we will be freed from the terror of snow. Meteorologist Masamitsu Morita sounded an alarm:

“When snow starts to melt, avalanches occur. There are surface avalanches, where the top layer of snow slides down, and full-snow avalanches, where the entire layer of snow collapses. Surface avalanches can reach speeds of up to 200 km/h, similar to the speed of a Shinkansen. Even full-snow avalanches can reach speeds of about 70 km/h, the same as a car. Once an avalanche occurs nearby, it is almost impossible to escape. Before an avalanche, there is a sound like rumbling from the earth. If you hear such a strange sound, consider it a sign of disaster and evacuate.”

In September 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that humanity has opened the gates of hell regarding recent extreme weather. It seems that the Earth has entered an extreme era, where deadly heat waves strike in the summer and killer cold waves in the winter.

From the March 7, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”