Onouchi icicles nowhere to be found amid warm winter

Due to the warm winter, there was no snow or icicles in Onouchi Valley in Ogano, Saitama Prefecture, on Saturday. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

OGANO, Saitama -- A magical world of ice that typically draws many visitors is nowhere to be found this winter, as the unseasonably warm weather has made it impossible to create the icicles.

Water is usually sprayed on trees in Onouchi Valley in Ogano, Saitama Prefecture, to create huge icicles. It's common to see powerful ice pillars here stretching 60 meters high in the 250-meter-wide canyon.

This year, however, the surface of the mountain and the trees can be seen. A member of the organizing committee said, "It's too bad -- we prepared for the people who look forward to it every year."

Huge icicles are seen in January 2018. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

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