Winter– tag –

Why Do “Snow Bugs” Appear Before Snow in Hokkaido?The Short Answer Every autumn in Hokkaido, tiny white insects called yukimushi, or “snow bugs,” begin floating through the air shortly before winter arrives. They are not predicting the w...

Why Does Drift Ice Reach Hokkaido?The Short Answer Most of the drift ice seen along Hokkaido’s Okhotsk coast forms much farther north, where extremely cold winter air freezes the surface of the Sea of Okhotsk. Fresh water from Russia’s A...