Tokyo-Level Offences: An ode to the Snow of Yamagata
And the nine-year-old-Dutch-backpack-wearer who saved me from jail
There’s snow.
And then, there’s,
Yamagata snow.
You either love it, or you don’t.
And if you don’t,
you don’t live in Yamagata.
Some people, mainly from Tokyo, are not built for snow. I’ve seen people in Tokyo hosing the snow off steps, and I’m like,
“heard of ice?”
Or even worse, the people who used straight up salt and woke up to melted concrete (true story).
Thankfully (or not, because it would be hilarious), those people don’t live in Yamagata. Probably haven’t even heard of the place, despite the news.
In case you hadn’t heard,
Yamagatans are of a different breed.
I mean, you kind of have to be if you wake up to this,
right?
In other words, Yamagatans love their snow.
And those who don’t, well, they
move to Tokyo.
To be honest though, I was *this* close to moving to Tokyo because of the snow once. And all because of what a little girl told me.
I live on the Yamagata coast of the Sea of Japan. Our snow is nowhere near inland Yamagata level. Houses there are three stories high with spare front doors on the second floor (for you Kiwis this means the first floor).
I’m not even joking.
Coastal Yamagata still gets a healthy dumping every once in a while. And when we do, I’m out there with a shovel like the best of them. But when there’s so much snow you don’t know what to do with it, well, don’t do what I used to do.
Don’t throw it on the road for the cars to help melt it.
That’s a Tokyo-level offence.
Why?
Well, one day I was doing just that, and a little girl of about eight or nine complete with red randoseru backpack (from the Dutch ransel), walked up to me and said,
“don’t do that!
That’s a Tokyo-level offence!”
Why? I hear you ask.
Simple. If the particular snow you throw causes an accident, guess who’s liable?
I know!
Thanks little girl.
Now why didn’t any of the dozens of adults who saw me do that over the 10 or so prior years tell me…
Anyway, with snow,
the trick is to just leave it.
Put it aside for a while and let it do its thing. Because you know what?
Leaving it can actually help in an accident. Why just yesterday I watched a car slide uncontrollably, at a comically slow pace mind you, straight into a wall of snow. Since it was snow the driver brushed it off and just kept on going like it was nothing.
Because it was nothing.
Because of the snow that someone didn’t clear.
And that’s the secret.
You don’t fight the snow. You work with it.
I learned that the hard way when I first arrived in Yamagata. I distinctly recall doing a 360 on black ice somewhere near Mikawa. Kept on going like it was nothing.
Because it was nothing.
I’m a Yamagatan now! This stuff doesn’t phase me anymore.
And when you’re a Yamagatan the word “black ice” sticks in your mind. Not because of how dangerous invisible ice can be, but because the term in Japanese is so… obscure.
Being Japan you’d think they would just do what they always do; take the English (or Dutch) word and make it Katakana, something like burakku aisu.
Alas, that wouldn’t be Japanese enough.
Needs more German.
Because of course it does.
The term for black ice in Japanese is burakku aisu bān (with a long ā sound), a combination of the English ‘black ice’, and the German ‘Eisbahn’ meaning ‘ice track’.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Bahn’ as in ‘autobahn’, right?
Right?
And the autobahn is famous for cars going really really fast, right?
Right?
Don’t go getting the wrong idea!
Black ice is no joke. You think I had fun doing that 360? (Honestly, I did. But that’s besides the point)
Tokyo people see a clear road and think, “Yay! The snow has melted! I can go 60kph!”
Yamagata people see the road and think:
Now that’s something they don’t teach at Tokyo School. A nine-year-old with intricate knowledge of Japanese law, German roads, and a Dutch backpack on the other hand…
If you haven’t had your Yamagata snow fix yet, check this out, a mountain only climbable in the winter:
Venturing to 'White Boy Mountain'
Yesterday, my good friend Peeter joined as we attempted climbing Shirotaro-yama in Oguni-Machi in the southern Okitama region of Yamagata, my first for the region, in an event run by Yamagata Arcadia Tourism Bureau.
Daily Yamabushi for The Week
Daily Yamabushi posts for the week of January 2 to 8, 2026.
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I'm happy to have Izumo snow where it mostly blows past the house and doesn't settle. Mind you the wind can be a problem too when it tries to blow you over into the ditch but you learn. Sometimes, as in the case of the middle school girl we saw yesterday, you learn by having the wind literally blow you and your mamachari into the soft mud of the tambo... but she got up dusted herself off and proceeded to walk and claimed to be unhurt
I like the snow when I can go visit it on my terms, I don't like it when it comes to visit me on its terms