Posts Tagged ‘winter’

Ice Fishing in Hokkaido

A news report about ice fishing in Hokkaido:

The fish being caught in the video are Japanese pond smelt, which apparently taste pretty good when fried in tempura batter or grilled.

Red Pandas Play in Hokkaido Snow

The male news anchor listening to the narration of this news story about Red Pandas [also known as Lesser Pandas] playing in the snow at Hokkaido’s ultra-popular Asahiyama Zoo experience a “kawaii” overload:

The zoo will be open this year until the 29th, and is scheduled to re-open on January 2nd.

[Via Fanboy.com]

Police: Avoid Climbing Mt. Fuji in Winter

If you’re an inexperienced climber that thinks it would be cool to celebrate the New Year by climbing Mt. Fuji, the Japanese police are here to save you from freezing to death:

To prevent accidents among climbers aiming to see the first sunrise of the year from the summit of Mt. Fuji, police officers will be deployed at the volcano’s fifth station on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 to turn back any climbers deemed to be too lightly dressed.

An increasing number of people are nonchalantly starting their ascent of the mountain in winter in light attire, prompting the police to take such a measure for the first time. While the police will have no legal power to stop people, they will make every effort to dissuade people they believe are ill-prepared for the climb.

“We are determined not to let people who underestimate how difficult it is to climb Mt. Fuji go up,” a spokesman at Fuji-Yoshida Police Station said.

According to the National Police Agency, about 150 people climbed Mt. Fuji between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3 last winter, apparently wanting to see the first sunrise of the year.

Housing Insulation in Japan

It’s starting to get pretty cold in Japan, and ever-rising oil prices are going to make this winter more expensive than ever for many households. Some Japanese reporters have spent their time on air whining and showing off cellphone camera pictures they took of the latest gas station prices, while others are actually giving viewers some tips on how to stay warm without burning too much fuel.

Here’s one such report in which we are shown a Hokkaido woman who has taken various measures to make her house warmer:

Her main method seems to be wrapping the inside of her house with blankets.
So there you have it, folks: If you live in a poorly-insulated Japanese house, just wrap your walls with blankets!

[Since we're on the topic of rising oil prices, why not check out this map of the world in which countries' sizes reflect their oil reserves. You'll need a microscope to spot Japan.]