Overview
- Saitama Prefecture shut the mountain road around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 2 to conduct snow removal after multiple stalls and spinouts.
- Roughly 70 cars and about 130 people were left near the shrine, with no injuries reported in these accounts.
- The shrine opened halls and a lobby and served curry, while Chichibu city distributed water, bread, blankets, diapers and milk.
- Police handled accidents and checked on people’s health, and staff guided vehicles with studless tires when conditions allowed.
- By the afternoon of Jan. 3, authorities said all vehicles that had been stuck near the site had departed, though full reopening was not specified.