<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Tourists revelled in wintry scenes across Japan on Wednesday, as much of the country was blanketed by snow in a cold snap that has killed at least one person and disrupted travel.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>“These temperatures are some of the coldest we’ve seen in a decade,” Japan Meteorological Agency official Takafumi Umeda said.</div><div><br></div><div>Record lows were logged in several locations, including one area of southern Kumamoto, where the mercury hit -9 degrees Celsius, the coldest logged there since 1977 when that observation site began keeping track.</div><div><br></div><div>Top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said one person had died in the cold snap, while meteorologists warned of blizzards, high waves and traffic snarl-ups due to icy roads.</div><div><br></div><div>Authorities were also investigating whether two other deaths were related to the freezing weather across much of the archipelago, Matsuno told reporters.</div><div><br></div><div>Hundreds of flights were canceled due to the snowstorm, while delays and cancelations disrupted both local trains and long-distance Shinkansen services. Vehicles on major roads in several locations were left stranded, local media said.</div><div><br></div><div>At the seventh-century Zenkoji Temple in the mountainous region of Nagano, north of Tokyo, a chilly calm descended with trees, old-fashioned lamp posts and the place of worship itself covered in layers of powdery snow.</div><div><br></div><div>Visitors included some who were there for skiing but had been forced off the slopes by blizzard conditions.</div><div><br></div><div>“I came to ski, but the snow was incredibly heavy so I cut my plan short and instead decided to do a bit of sightseeing,” 30-year-old Akiko Sotobori said.</div><div>“The blizzard (at the ski resort) was such that I couldn’t see anything three meters ahead.”</div><div><br></div><div>There were picturesque scenes in the former capital, tourist favorite Kyoto, where the shining walls of the famous Golden Pavilion contrasted with the temporary bright-white brilliance of its tiered roofs.</div><div><br></div><div>The country’s Sea of Japan coast was hit hardest by the overnight blizzard, with Tokyo and its surrounding regions spared the snow but seeing unseasonably low temperatures. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>