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Heavy snowfall hit Japan early last week. A record amount of snow fell in the southern part of the Tohoku region and in Niigata Prefecture on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The winter atmospheric pressure regime and strong cold air currents led to heavy snowfalls in the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions, as well as in Niigata Prefecture. Heavy snowfall has already claimed the lives of at least eight people. Officials said the eight deaths occurred in five prefectures - Hokkaido, Akita, Yamagata, Niigata and Ishikawa. A woman in her 20s was found dead in a snow-covered car in Niigata Prefecture last Tuesday. Officials suspected she died of carbon monoxide poisoning after the car's exhaust was clogged with snow. Three people over 80 have died in accidents in Niigata Prefecture while trying to clear snow around their homes. In northern Japan's Akita Prefecture, a man in his 80s was found dead last Wednesday, buried under the snow. Another man, aged 70, died in the prefecture while tr
