First day of Spring.

You may have read around the Japanese blogging internets, that yesterday was Setsubun, a time for throwing beans at the Oni and eatting some ehou-maki (恵方巻き).

Well, today is the first day of the Spring that isn't quite here yet. The Hokuriku region was hit with a huge cold front, like the one that blanketed Tokyo with snow last week. For the past two days, we've been getting snow in Kanazawa and it'll continue into tomorrow.

This was the scene on one of the busy streets this evening:

Here's a picture of the sprinkler systems that line the streets here. You won't see these in Tokyo ;-)

This little guy is located outside my house, and is only spraying a little bit. They're called yuusetsu souchi (融雪装置), and spray warm water on the roads to melt the snow. The water is funneled from the local ground water system, and really does a good job keeping the roads ice free. The only drawback is for pedestrians, because the water and slush accumulate along the sides of the roads creating huge sprays of water when cars drive by.

See how the roads are nice an clear? Getting lots of snow is great, I just wish I had more time to enjoy it. Going on a photo walk would be nice, just need to watch for big puddles of water.