The northern and western regions of the country experienced heavy snows Sunday as the strongest cold mass of the season so far settled over the Japanese archipelago.
The bad weather disrupted air and rail traffic in many parts of the country.
Weather officials said the snowstorms were likely to continue into today in many areas and urged caution to those in areas concerned.
In the 24 hours to 3 p.m. Sunday, 79 cm of snow had fallen on the town of Nou, Niigata Prefecture, and the town of Muraoka in Hyogo Prefecture had received 61 cm. The town of Otari, Nagano Prefecture, saw 54 cm of snow during the period, according to weather officials.
In addition, the mercury fell to record-low levels for the morning in some parts of the country, with Tokyo recording minus temperatures for the first time this winter with a reading of minus 0.8, and Kucchan, Hokkaido, saw temperatures fall to minus 24.3.
At Niigata Airport, 36 flights were canceled Sunday because efforts to remove the snow from runways could not keep up with the with the precipitation. In addition, some flights between Toyama and Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, and Tokyo's Haneda airport were canceled, according to airline officials.
Railway lines also saw delays, with reduced speeds on the Tohoku and Akita shinkansen lines between Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, and Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, resulting in delays of as much as 15 minutes.