About 500 people in 193 households remained cut off by deep snow Tuesday in an area straddling Nagano and Niigata prefectures after Ground Self-Defense Force units stopped snow removal work for the day.
Work was suspended at 4:30 p.m. and was scheduled to resume Wednesday morning. Local officials said they did not know when the roads would be cleared.
They said essential utilities and food have been secured in Tsunan, Niigata Prefecture, and Sakae, Nagano Prefecture -- two communities linked by National Route 405, which is buried in snow.
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