We just experienced the second snowstorm of the year, this one dropping waist-deep snow in Hashimoto, Sagamihara. There are no snowplows here because this does not happen often enough to warrant them. There was no sense in keeping my school open this time because the entire city came to a standstill. Head Office staff came to the rescue for me and notified all students of the closure, and I thank them for that.
An admirable part of Japanese culture is that when these things happen, everyone comes together to help out. Smith’s Hashimoto is located in a large building with a large parking lot. Today the tenants came together with an impressive team effort in clearing the parking lot and street in front of the building. There is no reason for anyone here to own a snow shovel, so between the building superintendent’s four shovels and a few others, people worked all day, coming out at different times, relieving each other, like clockwork. Most people, including myself, worked for about one hour, so no one was exhausted. More snow than I have ever seen here, so the clean up is only about half done, but will surely be taken care of tomorrow. Amazing sense of responsibility, no dependence on the city for help, just citizens helping citizens. 
Sunday afternoon, mission accomplished!
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