One of the bigger snow storms to hit Japan in decades has now become a hindrance to the charity walk being held there today, according to various reports. Up to 30 centimetres of snow was forecast for some parts of the country by Saturday morning, a week after the heaviest snowfall left at least 11 people dead and more than 1200 injured. The event, dubbed “WorldWide Walk” by the religious group Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), began at the Skytree Park in Tokyo and finished 3km away at the Ueno Park. Although captured video on the participants showed an enthusiastic bunch, the biting cold was an obvious obstacle. As of 10:30 am local time, there have been no reports of any injuries among the attendees of the charity walk.
Recent updates said that the participants, who numbered about 800, took over 2 hours to complete the walkathon despite the short distance. According to Correspondent Dennis Lu, the path to Ueno Park was blisteringly cold and “wet”, which made the area very slippery for walking. Participants who were interviewed (which included Japanese nationals) admitted that although the trek was quite difficult, they found it rather ‘fulfilling’.
