TOKYO: The Japan Meteorological Agency issued heavy snow warnings Thursday for Tokyo’s 23 special wards and two nearby areas, namely the whole of Chiba Prefecture and southern Ibaraki Prefecture.

The warnings were lifted at night for all areas. The heavy snow warning in the Tokyo wards was the first in about four years.

In the Kanto eastern Japan region, snow fell mainly in the southern part including Tokyo.

As of 7 p.m. (10 a.m. GMT), snowfall reached 10 centimeters at Kitanomaru Park in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, 8 centimeters in Naka Ward in Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, and 7 centimeters each in Chuo Ward of Chiba’s namesake capital and the Ibaraki capital of Mito, according to the agency.

The agency issued heavy snow advisories for the Tama area of western Tokyo and Kanagawa.

Temperatures fell in snow-hit areas, reaching minus 0.8 degree Celsius in central Tokyo around 9 p.m.

Due to the snowfall, many flights were canceled, including those to and from Tokyo International Airport at Haneda. Japan Airlines <9201> and All Nippon Airways canceled 68 flights and 40 flights, respectively, affecting 6,230 and 3,520 passengers.

There were delays in services on some Japan Railways Group lines, including the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line, the Tokaido Main Line, the Sobu Line and the Yokosuka Line.

In Tokyo, traffic accidents happened on expressways and other public roads. Parcel delivery services were also affected mainly in the Kanto region, according to Japan Post Co. and other companies.

JIJI Press