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消防和除雪
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00:20In winter, many parts of Japan experience heavy snowfall.
00:27All that snow creates significant problems in daily life.
00:34But over the years, advances in snow removal have reduced the impact on communities.
00:43Life during a harsh winter is made much more manageable by the technologies and hard work that keep roads, railways
00:50and airports functioning.
00:56This time on Japanology Plus, our theme is snow removal.
01:00We'll see various ways to tackle the snow and keep everyday life running through the winter.
01:19Hello and welcome to Japanology Plus, I'm Peter Barakan.
01:22Today I'm in Sapporo in the northern island of Hokkaido.
01:26Sapporo has about 2 million people making it, outside of Tokyo, Japan's fourth most populous city.
01:33It also gets up to 6 meters of snow in a typical winter, making it the snowiest major urban area
01:40in the world.
01:41Despite that, the people of Sapporo go about their daily lives in a normal way.
01:46They go to work or to school, in trains and buses.
01:49Life goes on here just the same as in a city without snow.
01:53And Sapporo is not the only place in Japan that does get a lot of snow.
01:56In fact, half of this country is designated as zones of heavy snowfall.
02:02How do people get through? Today our theme is snow removal.
02:09Geographical circumstances result in much of Japan getting heavy snowfall, not just Hokkaido.
02:18High mountains run through much of the Japanese archipelago.
02:22In winter, dry winds from the continent pick up moisture as they cross the sea.
02:27When these air masses hit the mountains, they dump huge amounts of snow.
02:36Sapporo gets an accumulated snowfall of around 6 meters each winter.
02:43For many people in regional Japan, snow is a fact of life.
02:52But when one meter piles up in a single night, even areas that are accustomed to snow may come to
02:59a standstill.
03:02Roads become choked with snow, and people can only exit their homes through upstairs windows.
03:08Sometimes the Japan Self-Defence Forces must be called in to support snow clearance.
03:13In extreme cases, roads and railways are unusable until spring.
03:19Snow removal is a crucial aspect of life in snowy regions.
03:28Our guest this time is Natsuo Numano, Emeritus Professor at Tohoku Institute of Technology.
03:35He has studied snow-related matters for decades and written many books and articles on the hardships of life in
03:42snowy regions.
03:44When you live in Tokyo, which I do, you very rarely get any snow.
03:50We actually did have one day of heavy snow just a couple of weeks ago.
03:54But other than that, Tokyo has almost no snow.
03:57And you kind of forget that a lot of Japan has snowed in for the whole winter.
04:03About 20 million Japanese are living in snowy regions.
04:08That's a little over 15% of the population.
04:11No other country has such a high concentration of people in regions of heavy snow.
04:18Things have changed now.
04:20But in the old days, life in the winter was totally different from life in the summer.
04:26During the winter, people had to adapt.
04:29They couldn't go very far from home back then.
04:34Nowadays, we have various big machines to remove snow.
04:39They get rid of all the snow on a road.
04:42In the old days, none of that was possible.
04:47Back then, the main aim was to compress the snow underfoot.
04:52Young people would make trails leading out of the village.
04:56In some cases, the snow paths took totally different routes from the summer roads.
05:03Really?
05:04You just make a road through the snow?
05:06If you made a path straight over the mountain, it was less vulnerable to avalanches.
05:12Travelling down in the valley was more dangerous.
05:15The straight snow roads followed different routes.
05:19That was what happened in those days.
05:21When did that start to change?
05:25Roughly at the start of the 20th century, snowy regions became economically integrated with non-snowy regions.
05:33People started travelling back and forth and saw for themselves how much easier life was in regions where there was
05:40no heavy snow.
05:43That triggered changes.
05:45People in snowy regions wanted to be able to maintain a daily routine right through the winter, just like people
05:53in other regions.
05:54Before that, snow was cleared into the roads during winter.
06:00But especially when a lot of people started driving, the roads had to be kept open.
06:07That launched the era of snow removal.
06:12This is a state-of-the-art snow removal train that the JR West Rail Company has been using for
06:18several years.
06:21Special equipment like this is essential for preserving mobility in the region.
06:27In some areas, snow removal trains have to clear the track daily.
06:32In other areas, only when a blizzard hits.
06:35So various methods are used according to local needs.
06:46This is Aomori Airport in northern Japan.
06:50It's not unusual for total winter snowfall here to top 10 meters.
06:55But flights are almost never cancelled due to runway conditions.
07:01Aomori Airport's defense against snow is the White Impulse Team, which can clear snow from runways very quickly.
07:10This is the runway. It's 60 meters wide and 3,000 meters long.
07:15But the team can clear it fully, including taxiways, in just 40 minutes.
07:35The choreographed use of heavy machinery is a great way to deal with the snow.
07:44While the train is on, it's not even possible.
07:46I'll give you a little more.
07:46I'll give you a little more.
07:49Precise driving allows them to complete the work fast.
07:54Teams like this keep airports operating, even in very challenging circumstances.
07:59circumstances. In snowy regions, people are able to keep going through the winter thanks
08:08to snow removal work operated by the local government. But when snow piles up on private
08:16property, it is the people who live there who have to clear it away. Removing snow
08:24from roofs is an absolutely essential task. That's because snow, especially the wet snow
08:31that falls in much of Japan, is heavy. One cubic meter of wet snow weighs 500 kilograms.
08:41If too much snow is allowed to build up on a roof, the roof may collapse.
08:47The snow needs to be cleared promptly, but this necessity creates a new problem.
08:57Elderly people can't clear snow by themselves. And these days, that's a pervasive problem in snowy
09:05regions. In the old days, people had a family safety net that ensured elderly people wouldn't
09:12have to clear their own snow. That was in the past. But now, extended families rarely live together
09:20or nearby, and rural populations have shrunk. So there is no one to step in and help, and the elderly
09:29must clear their own snow. That has led to accidents. The most common example is someone falling off a roof
09:39while clearing snow. There are 40 to 50 snow-related fatalities each year nationwide. That's not
09:48including traffic accidents involving snow. And elderly people account for as many as 80 percent of these
09:56fatalities. Is there anything that can be done to deal with that sort of situation?
10:00There certainly is. One important trend now is to have volunteers do snow removal.
10:08They're snow removal helpers, essentially. Since the labour to do this work is not available locally,
10:16people from outside the area are mobilized as volunteers.
10:30Hi, I'm Matt Ault, and this is Plus One. Today, I'm in Niigata Prefecture, which is about two hours outside
10:37of Tokyo by bullet train.
10:38Now, this area gets some seriously heavy snowfall. The locals are already quite used to it, but there's also a
10:44growing population of elderly people, and they need a lot of help clearing out the snow from the fronts and
10:49the roofs of their houses. So every year, volunteer groups set out to help these people and make sure that
10:54they can stay safe in this heavy snow environment. That's what we're going to check out on today's episode.
11:01Ah, hello there. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
11:09The man leading the volunteers is Yasuo Tanaka, who is from this area.
11:15The number of snow removal volunteers from outside Niigata is growing every year. But people who haven't lived in snowy
11:23areas need to receive guidance, or the work will be dangerous.
11:27So, Tanaka formed a group that teaches all about snow removal principles, dangers, and tools.
11:38A two-day overnight program has attracted a total of 1,460 participants so far.
11:48Tanaka will be showing Matt how to remove snow from a roof, an activity that leads to many accidents every
11:55year, including falls or being crushed under falling snow.
11:59He starts with the fundamental safety rules.
12:07Many people fall from a roof each year and injure themselves or even die.
12:13The first rule when you want to remove snow from your roof is make sure your neighbors know what you're
12:19planning to do.
12:21Never work alone, only in teams of at least two people.
12:27Why is it important to tell your neighbors when you start this work?
12:31In the worst case, if you do fall, you may survive the fall but be trapped in the snow.
12:38Then the danger is death by hypothermia.
12:42If your neighbors know you're up there, they're more likely to notice if you fall.
12:46In many cases, that prevents accidents from having worse outcomes.
12:52If you get stuck in deep snow, it becomes hard to move.
12:57To demonstrate, Tanaka buries Matt up to his knees.
13:05Even trying to pull them straight out, your feet stick in, so you can't pull them up.
13:13You really have to work at this.
13:16Okay.
13:24Wow.
13:25Now we're going to go up on the roof.
13:28The ladder is another place where a lot of accidents happen, so be very careful.
13:33You have two hands and two feet.
13:36You should always have three out of four in contact with the ladder.
13:42Three points of contact with the ladder while climbing.
13:45That's the rule.
13:51Make sure this is set.
13:53Ladder falls are especially common among experienced snow removers when they let their attention stray.
13:59When you climb a ladder, you must always stay focused.
14:05To prevent falls, Tanaka's group recommends the use of safety harnesses.
14:16The best tool for removing snow from a roof is a snow scoop.
14:23Let's get started.
14:25Let's get started.
14:26One thing to look out for is this stopper here.
14:28My foot's on it now.
14:30My foot's on it now.
14:30See it?
14:31Ah, I see.
14:32I see.
14:34Beyond that, you can slip.
14:37I'll stay inside.
14:39Always make sure you have secure footing or else you'll fall.
14:45Even with secure footing, many accidents happen when people are dragged down by the
14:50weight of the scoop filled with snow. That is why a harness is so important.
14:57Cut it. And then slide it.
15:06That's a big, heavy chunk. So you need to lift this up and that will break it off.
15:12OK. So every year, removing snow from a roof results in fatalities.
15:18It's not an easy job for anyone who is unfamiliar with snow.
15:24OK. Good.
15:27Working on a roof is just one of the dangerous activities
15:30that people who live in snowy regions cannot avoid.
15:40Well, thanks for showing me the ropes up there today.
15:43Thank you for coming.
15:44You know, it's not only a little bit scary up there,
15:47but it's a lot of physical work to move that snow around.
15:50This must be really difficult to do for elderly people.
15:53Yes, especially because around here we get wet, heavy snow.
15:58It's very demanding work for the elderly.
16:00So volunteers are more and more important.
16:04Well, I just learned how difficult this kind of work is.
16:06So thank you very much for showing me how to stay safe up on a rooftop in the snow.
16:11Thanks.
16:18In the past, shops and local government offices could be found clustered together
16:23in towns and villages in the countryside.
16:27Even in the snow, it was still possible to walk around
16:31when you wanted to get something done in everyday life.
16:34But as cars spread and large shops appeared on the outskirts of communities,
16:40people needed to make longer journeys.
16:42And that created new areas where the local authorities had to keep the roads clear of snow.
16:52So how does a city like Sapporo, with two million people spread over a large area,
16:58cope with an annual accumulation of six meters of snow?
17:06We're going to meet Hidenori Mogi of the city government's snow management office.
17:13How do you manage to keep things running and can you tell us some of the specifics?
17:18Sapporo's top priority is clearing the streets of snow.
17:24The snow management office begins planning in the summer.
17:29Arrangements are made for the budget, personnel, equipment and so on.
17:34Everything that will be needed for snow removal.
17:36How many people do you have in your section?
17:40The snow management office itself is staffed with about 40 people.
17:45But around the city, we have 23 snow removal centres.
17:50And in the winter, they employ a total of 3,000 people.
17:57Oh my God! 3,000 people! And they're working every night through the winter.
18:04When it doesn't snow, they have to be standing by.
18:07And when it does snow, they all deploy immediately.
18:11How many kilometres of roads would you guess that we have to clear in all?
18:17Wow. Well, if you've got 23 areas and say, let's say each of them has one truck
18:23and they're moving six hours, 23 times six, let's call it 25.
18:29Can't be anything like it, 1,400 kilos, can it?
18:32Actually, it's much more than that. 5,400 kilometres.
18:38In one night.
18:40Impressive, right? That is the same as the distance from here to Ishigakijima in Okinawa,
18:47at the far end of the Japanese archipelago and all the way back again.
18:53That's unbelievable.
18:58Sapporo is divided into 23 districts, each with its own snow removal centre.
19:05Ploughing is carried out by private contractors designated by the city government.
19:10They operate 24 hours a day within their designated area.
19:18A decision on whether to go out and plough is made based on data from the Japan Meteorological Agency
19:25and the city's own network of weather instruments.
19:33There are weather stations at 47 points around the city. At 10-minute intervals,
19:39they measure such variables as temperature, wind speed and snowfall intensity.
19:44The data is relayed to the city's computers.
19:50Everyone in the office checks the data roughly once an hour.
19:54But even though we have this useful information, it doesn't tell us everything we need to know.
20:07The centre's trucks cruise the streets and assess the state of the roads.
20:13Each centre makes its own judgements about when and where to do snow removal.
20:19Today there is a forecast of heavy snow and they decide to plough overnight.
20:27The work starts at midnight. It's usually done at night in order to avoid causing traffic congestion.
20:34Main arteries that are served by bus routes are ploughed to their full width
20:39to ensure that traffic can flow smoothly.
20:47Snow is also removed from the area at the side of the road where buses stop.
20:51Great care is taken not to damage anything.
20:59When there is ploughing city-wide, about 1,000 pieces of heavy equipment are in use.
21:05Even in a budget crunch, the ploughing must go on.
21:08Keeping the city functioning takes priority.
21:14Paths to school and walkways near train stations are ploughed with smaller machines.
21:18Pedestrians too need to be able to move around.
21:27Ploughing produces huge piles of snow by the road.
21:32If these piles get too big, they will intrude on travel lanes.
21:37That's where rotary snow removers come into play.
21:40They suck up snow and deposit it in accompanying dump trucks.
21:50When snow banks get dangerously high, they are demolished.
21:56Trucks loaded with snow head to snow dump sites outside the city.
22:00It stays cold all winter in this part of Japan, so the mounds of snow just keep growing.
22:07Trucks are constantly going out to these remote sites and back again.
22:12It's tough and expensive work.
22:19The ploughing is completed by morning, leaving the streets clear.
22:24This is a routine in Sapporo for four months of the year.
22:30Are there any particular issues that Sapporo has compared with other places with regard to snow removal?
22:36Well, yes, Sapporo does have certain standout features.
22:41Finding sites to dump the snow is an issue. It's quite a challenge.
22:46The total amount of snow hauled out is about 20 million cubic meters.
22:52I can't even imagine what kind of amount that is.
22:57There are about 70 sites within the city limits.
23:00Each one of them is a little mountain of snow, and each mountain is 10 or 20 meters high.
23:08That's one way to think about it.
23:13Another technique for battling snow is a system that harnesses the relative warmth of sewage.
23:19Following any necessary treatment, the melted snow is released into rivers.
23:24This is much less expensive than taking snow to dump sites.
23:35The city government alone cannot handle all the work of keeping Sapporo up and running through the winter.
23:44Citizens need to clear the snow from their own property, of course.
23:48And we also need people to offer a helping hand to the elderly who can't clear their own snow.
23:56So it's important for everyone to pitch in, to keep things running.
24:04Sapporo has set up places for people to smoothly dispose of the snow that they remove from their own properties.
24:12These locations are called snow gutters.
24:14The city has plans to expand the network of these gutters in order to cut snow removal costs.
24:24There's one more thing for us to see.
24:28Can you guess what this is?
24:31It says there's sand in here to stop you slipping.
24:36Oh, in fact it says it in English as well.
24:41These bags contain sand, more like gravel, to prevent slipping on the snow.
24:47We ask people to be on the alert for slippery spots and to take the initiative in spreading gravel.
24:56Oh, it is pebbles. You call that sand?
24:59Stones, really.
25:01In Sapporo, when people and cars compress the snow, it forms ice patches that can lead to slips and falls.
25:10Bags of gravel are placed on street corners so that people who notice an icy patch can scatter the gravel,
25:16making it easier to walk.
25:20Yeah, I've never seen anything like this before.
25:23There are 1,200 of these gravel boxes in high traffic locations around the city.
25:32What kind of a budget are you dealing with each year?
25:36I mean, you've got all of these 3,000 people working all through the winter,
25:40and a lot of machinery out there on the roads every night.
25:44The city budget specifically for snow removal in Sapporo this winter
25:49is about 20.4 billion yen.
25:53Wow, that's a lot of money. That's just for clearing the snow.
25:58People often wonder why we spend so much, especially given that snow will eventually melt anyway.
26:05Yeah, but I guess if you're going to keep the city running, then it has to be done.
26:09I myself live in a city in a snowy region.
26:12But in that region, the population is falling and the cost of snow removal is rising.
26:20Finding places to dump the snow is becoming more difficult.
26:25Sapporo is grappling with that problem on a far larger scale.
26:30Thinking 10 or 20 years down the road, the current approach may not be viable. It's worrying.
26:38As the city grew in population, it also grew in area.
26:43But nowadays, people are talking about urban planning that will make the city more compact again.
26:52That would help to reduce snow removal expenditures.
26:56I think we may have to consider new approaches like that.
27:03In order to make the city more compact, maybe there will need to be a number of urban clusters
27:10where functions are gathered within walking distance, concentrated together.
27:16Perhaps that is a solution for Sapporo.
27:20I think it's a solution for the city.
27:23Dealing with heavy snow simply cannot be ignored when 20 million people's lives are affected.
27:29Communities in many parts of Japan have no choice but to keep finding new ways to deal with the snow.
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