Northbound traffic resumed early Friday morning on a stretch of the Kan-Etsu Expressway in Niigata Prefecture, where more than 1,000 vehicles were stranded because of heavy snowfall centering around areas along the Sea of Japan.
However, many vehicles remained stuck on southbound lanes heading for Tokyo, so East Nippon Expressway Co. tried to alleviate the situation by directing vehicles to local streets through paths for emergency vehicles.
According to the company, some large vehicles became stuck in the snow with their tires spinning.
On Thursday evening, about 750 vehicles were stranded on southbound lanes, from around the Shiozawa-Ishiuchi Interchange, while about 350 cars were at a standstill on northbound lanes, from around the Yuzawa Interchange.
The Niigata prefectural government began removing snow with the help of the Self-Defense Forces. The same evening, vehicles started to be directed to local streets from interchanges as well as paths for ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the snow-causing cold air eased temporarily, but snow was expected to become heavy again from Friday evening, in the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions mainly along the Sea of Japan.
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