Blizzards Fuel Surprising Tourist Boom In Japan's Snow Country - AFP

"Beware of avalanches" warns the roadside sign. Heaps of snow still cover surrounding mountains and rice paddies, with cherry trees' pink blossoms spread over the chilly white field. The spring has come late to this fabled Snow Country. But the magic of television has reaped unexpected dividends for the remote valley, luring tourists in the wake of a crippling snowfall this winter.

"I'd rather thank the press for excessively projecting negative images of our place. It has put us on the national map," said Yasuo Ibayashi, head of the tourism association in Akiyamago, 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Tokyo.

For a few weeks in January, troops helped residents dig themselves out of isolation as this valley in Niigata prefecture was hardest hit by near-record snow which killed 151 people and injured more than 2,000 across Japan. Hot springs and skiing grounds were initially hit by cancellations. And then came "Golden Week" in early May, a holiday-studded period when millions of Japanese travel to places such as the country's 2,000 hot spring spas, the ones in Akiyamago among the most remote. Ibayashi figured that Golden Week visitors here increased roughly 30 percent compared to last year. About 7,000-8,000 people, including day trippers, usually visit in the month.

Tourists packed a sake-tasting fair at a brewery in the nearest town of Tsunan, which uses the highly-prized local rice strain of Kohihikari. "You had hard times, didn't you?" they kept consoling the sales clerks. "Thick snow buried the whole brewery and helped our sake mature. I think we have produced a fine young sake," smiled Masaya Takizawa, 33, the production chief at Tsunan Brewery.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2006/060512025015.mni6nhyy.html

:toast: to the masters of rice beer!!