A RARE heavy blanket of snow in Tokyo today left thousands of travellers stranded and scores injured, as frozen conditions snarled public transport in the Japanese capital.

Japan’s weather agency recorded as much as 23cm of snow in some parts of Tokyo, the biggest snowfall since February 2014.

The weather paralysed yesterday evening’s commute, as millions of workers battled to get home in one of the world’s most populous cities.

Notoriously hard-working Japanese employees were urged to knock off early, but this did not prevent delays and crushes at major stations.

Cars became trapped in a tunnel, sparking a 10km-long traffic queue from yesterday evening through early this morning, broadcasters said.

For the second day running, dozens of domestic and international flights departing from and arriving at the Japanese capital were scrapped due to the snow, with more than 9,000 people stranded overnight at Narita airport, officials said.

Airport officials and airline staff handed out water, snacks and sleeping bags to the unlucky passengers.

“I had planned to visit the United States after graduating from university, but my flight was cancelled. Why today?” an exasperated student told NHK.

Public broadcaster NHK said at least 180 people had sustained minor injuries on the frozen streets. Police said there had been around 700 traffic accidents.

Heavy snowfall is common in northern areas of Japan, but rare in the capital, which last saw this amount of snow in 2014.

The sun was shining brightly this morning, but forecasters predicted temperatures would stay well below zero this week, causing treacherous roads, and warned of more injuries.

The greater Tokyo area will see lows of -6°C tomorrow, the weather agency said.

“It’s rare to have sub-zero temperatures for a few days in the Tokyo area, and that would freeze the snow,” agency official Kenji Okada said.

“In the past, we have seen a lot of injuries caused by slipping and falling. Simply walking can be dangerous.” – AFP, January 23, 2018.