:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/HOBQ4LGG5VAUZC6VVZFGXIEG7Y.jpg "Heavy snow in Japan causing havoc in transportation and leaving thousands without power")
Heavy snowfall caused traffic jams, flight cancellations and disruptions to rail service in the center of Japan.
More than 3,200 homes were without power in the region, according to Kansai Electric Power, and authorities anticipated more snow overnight.
No injuries or deaths were reported from the freezing temperatures, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said.
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/G6PS5YBT6BATZLUA7O3XNBV3TA.jpg "Heavy snow in Japan causes havoc in transportation and leaving thousands without power 1")
Traffic moves slowly as snow covers the roads in the city of Hikone.
“A winter pressure pattern is causing the heavy snowfall, mainly along the coastline of the Sea of Japan, from north to west of Japan, and some areas record snow records,” indicated Matsuno.
“The amount of snow should increase tomorrow (Tuesday)”, he advances.
A main highway in the Shiga region was closed “due to stopped vehicles,” Matsuno said. In the television images, parked cars were seen, which subsequently began to move.
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/RJ2ASWOHVZCSFIXPH3XT3AJPII.jpg "Heavy snow in Japan causes havoc in transportation and leaving thousands without power 2")
People walk down a street covered in heavy snow in the city of Toyama.
In addition, almost 200 passengers were trapped in the snow at night on a regional train in that area of the country, the NHK network reported.
The snow also caused the cancellation of about 130 domestic flights on Sunday, the Jiji Press agency reported, while NHK reported about 50 cancellations on Monday.