Japan Photo Journal: Breaking the ice for winter

A woman holds the first ice of this autumn at the Senjogahara wetland in the city of Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, on the morning of Oct. 10, 2019. Masao Tsurumaki, 70, the owner of a local souvenir shop, who has voluntarily made meteorological observations in the highland area for about 40 years, confirmed the thin ice sheet in a bucket of water. The thermometer set by Tsurumaki at the popular tourist spot north of Tokyo, which is 1,394 meters above sea level, hit minus 1 degree Celsius, the coldest reading for this autumn, at 5 a.m. on Oct. 10. The colorful autumn foliage season will soon blanket the Okunikko area, according to Tsurumaki.

(Japanese original by Makoto Hananoi, Nikko Local Bureau)