Heavy snow blanketed wide swathes of Japan on Wednesday, snarling traffic, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations and disrupting train travel, leaving at least one person dead. An unusually cold weather front and extreme low pressure systems set snow falling and strong winds blowing across Japan from Tuesday. Snow was particularly heavy on the side of the nation facing the Sea of Japan, with the city of Maniwa in western Japan hit with a record 93 cm (36 inches) in the 24 hours to 8:00 a.m. (2300 GMT) on Wednesday. One person had died as a result of the storm and two other deaths were being investigated as related ... (full story)