Children in the disaster-hit city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on July 15 received a cool gift to play with for at least one day in the summer heat.
Children in the disaster-hit city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on July 15 received a cool gift to play with for at least one day in the summer heat.
A citizens group in Kutchan, Hokkaido, delivered 8 tons of snow to the city, which suffered tremendous damage in last year's Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and created two 1.5-meter-tall snowmen and a 4-meter-long slide.
“I am happy to see people enjoying it,” Masatsugu Kashiwaya, the group’s 31-year-old leader, said.
About 1,000 people showed up for the out-of-season event. Children shouted for joy--and also voiced mild complaints that the snow was "cold."
“I had fun playing with the snow slide in the summer,” Miho Karino, a 7-year-old girl, said.