Japan experiences cold weather and heavy snow during the holidays.Concerns over Holiday Traffic Disruption

[Anchor]
It is expected that Japan will have a strong cold wave and a lot of snow at the end of the year.

In Japan, the year-end and New Year holidays last up to 9 days, and there are growing concerns about traffic chaos everywhere.

Correspondent Kim Se-ho's report from Tokyo.

[Reporter] The vehicle standing
has already been buried in snow for nearly half of its body.

Even if you clean up constantly, the road is quickly covered with snow.

The roof of the house is also dangerously thick with snow.Many places in Niikata Prefecture,

, recorded 120cm of snow, more than double the amount in the same period last year.

[Niagata Prefecture Residents: Last year wasn't a small amount, but this year we got a lot.]

The snow stopped as the day cleared, but the snow removal can't relax for a moment.

[Niigata Prefecture Residents: (It's cleared today, is it hard to remove snow other than today?) If you don't do it today, you don't have a chance.]

A strong cold wave centered on Japan's mountainous regions in the West Sea is expected to hit Japan during the year-end and New Year holidays, especially over the weekend.

As the year-end and New Year holidays are up to nine days, citizens traveling long distances are on alert.

Urban auto repair shops are busier than ever as winter tire orders flock.

[Nakamura / Mechanic: It's getting cold, so it's time to change winter tires. We're taking quite a lot of reservations, and it's peak tire change time.]

The cold wave is expected to be a major crisis in the Noto Peninsula, which was severely damaged by the earthquake earlier this year, as the restoration is not complete.

The Japan Meteorological Agency emphasized the need to check weather information from time to time when traveling during the holiday season and actively look at changes in scheduled routes.

I'm Kim Se-ho from YTN in Tokyo.