Japan has had an unseasonably warm winter so far this year, with the national average temperature equal to that normally observed in March or April, the Meteorological Agency said Friday. In the city of Akita, the temperature has yet to fall below the freezing point since the new year began. According to the agency, the average temperature between Jan. 1 and 10 was 1.7 degrees in Sapporo, 2.2 degrees higher than in an average year; 5.4 degrees in Sendai, 3.9 degrees higher; 9.7 degrees in Tokyo, 4.3 degrees higher; 7.7 degrees in Nagoya, 3.6 degrees higher; 8.9 degrees in Osaka, 2.9 degrees higher; 9.6 degrees in Fukuoka, 3.3 degrees higher; and 20.1 degrees in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, 3.8 degrees higher. In Akita, on the Sea of Japan coast, the average temperature during this time of the year hovers around 0.1 degree in a normal year. But so far, the 0.1 degree recorded on New Year's Day was the lowest point observed in the city. In Shizuoka, the temperature soared to 22 degrees on Jan. 7 -- almost equal to the level in early May and the third-highest record tempera ture in January. Agency officials predict the temperature will continue to be higher than average throughout the country by the end of the month. "The full-scale winter may have ended by now," one agency forecaster said. Due to such warm weather, a ski course in Nagano Prefecture that was the site of freestyle mogul competition during the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games, is unable to open due to a severe shortage of snow. Accumulation of snow at the Nagano city-run Iizuna Kogen ski area, which nor mally draws 130,000 visitors in the winter, stands at a mere 10 cm, compared with 60 cm about a year ago. Snow machines are not much help because the average temperature in Nagano in early January stood at 3.7 degrees -- 5 degrees higher than in a normal year.
