Niigata Prefecture, western Japan - Jan 13, 2018
1. Various of vehicles moving in heavy snow
2. Pedestrian holding umbrella, walking in heavy snow
3. Heavy snow
4. Snow-covered car
5. Vehicles moving on snow-covered road
6. Snow-covered exam center
7. Various of workers removing snow from street
8. Various of applicants of college entrance examination walking on snow-covered road
9. Workers removing snow from street
10. Vehicles moving on snow-covered road
11. Various of residents removing snow from car roof
12. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Resident (name not given) (ending with shot 13):
"I want to go out after removing snow from the car. But I am afraid it can't be done until evening."
13. Snow-covered car
14. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Resident (name not given) (partially overlaid with shot 15):
"I never expected such a heavy snow, which really startled me. I feel there are fewer goods in the supermarket than usual. Yesterday, I went to the supermarket and deliberately bought more than usual, just in case."
++ SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE ++
15. Resident removing snow from car roof
++ SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE ++
16. Buses
17. Pedestrians
18. City view after heavy snow

Heavy snow continued to sweep western Japan on Saturday, delaying the start of the annual college entrance examinations at some venues.

Affected by a strong cold front, snow began hitting Niigata Prefecture and Hokuriku region on Thursday. By Saturday noon, Niigata had seen up to 62 cm of snow, eight times the accumulated snow in previous years. Other regions have also seen twice to four times of accumulated snow.

Road traffic in these areas has been severely disrupted by the blizzard.

Saturday also coincided with the beginning of the two-day national college and university entrance examinations. The snow-paralyzed traffic stranded many applicants on their way to examination venues.

The examination center in Niigata decided to postpone the start of the exams by one hour at some venues.

Besides crippled traffic, snow also affected people's normal life.

Residents raced against time to dig out their cars stuck in heavy snow and removed snow and ice from streets.

"I want to go out after removing snow from the car. But I am afraid it can't be done until evening," said a resident in Niigata City.

"I never expected such a heavy snow, which really startled me. I feel there are fewer goods in the supermarket than usual. Yesterday, I went to the supermarket and deliberately bought more than usual, just in case, " said another resident.