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Heavy snowfall in Tokyo turns the city’s borderline river into a breathtaking misty wonderland

Casey Baseel Jan 24, 2018
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Cinema fans might be reminded of a famous Ghibli anime and Godzilla film, but this is one time when real-life Japan is better than any movie magic.

On Monday afternoon, a steady snowfall began over Tokyo, and it continued through the night. While Japan’s capital gets a few snow days every year, the powder rarely piles up as much as it did this time, and residents of the city awoke to find their surroundings blanketed in ice.

But as dawn broke on Tuesday, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. With the temperature forecast to be several degrees warmer than the day before, all that beautiful snow isn’t going to last for long. Even as it starts to melt, though, the snow is providing one last breathtaking view.

多摩川が。。#多摩川 #二子玉川 pic.twitter.com/aFgpDpThDi

— kenbowlize (@kenbowlize) January 22, 2018

Twitter user @kenbowlize was up bright and early with camera in hand, snapping the above photo from a vantage point not far from the bank of the Tamagawa River, the waterway which divides Tokyo and the neighboring city of Kawasaki. As the ice thawed, it turned to mist that drifted on the wind over the river, making it look like the cities were separated by a vast chasm of billowing clouds.

Several commenters said the scene reminded them of unkai, meaning “sea of clouds,” an atmospheric phenomenon that often occurs around mountain peaks in Japan. Amidst the several appreciative comments of “beautiful” or “otherworldly” were also a number of people who compared the image to the final scene of the Studio Ghibli anime Whisper of the Heart/Mimi wo Sumeseba.

何故かコレを思い出しました(´･ω･`) pic.twitter.com/uePFKJvKg7

— Ryoさん🤙A-channel_MotorCycle (@impalus1300) January 23, 2018

Still others were reminded of a less tender moment in cinematic history. On the far side of the Tamagawa River is a cluster of skyscrapers, which stand in Kawasaki’s Musashi Kosugi neighborhood. Musashi Kosugi also happens to be the site of a kaiju rampage in Shin Godzilla.

▼ Tamagawa River, in less snowy conditions

“I want to put Godzilla in the photo,” said one commenter of @kenbowlize’s photo, and another Twitter user was happy to oblige.

https://twitter.com/ScpGodzilla/status/955606854301700096

Because even the King of the Monsters must enjoy playing in the snow, right?

Source: Twitter/@kenbowlize via Hachima Kiko
Insert images: YouTube/東宝MOVIEチャンネル

Follow Casey on Twitter, where as a resident of Kanagawa Prefecture he’s always a little sad when foreign movie critics mistakenly say that Shin Godzilla’s Musashi Kosugi scene takes place in Tokyo.