Ticket gates at JR Sapporo Station are crowded due to train schedule disruptions caused by heavy snowfall, as seen in Sapporo on Jan. 25, 2026. (Mainichi/Ayako Morihara)
Heavy snowfall brought the transportation network around Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport to a near standstill on Jan. 25, leaving approximately 7,000 passengers stranded at the airport overnight. Social media was filled with cries for help from what appear to be airport users, describing the situation as “disaster level” and “crowded with people.”
According to Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co., some flights to and from New Chitose Airport were canceled, although others were still operating. As of 7 p.m. on Jan. 25, the expressway toward Sapporo was also closed.
Meanwhile, Hokkaido Railway Co. (JR Hokkaido) reported that many train services passing through New Chitose Airport Station were suspended. The railway company announced Jan. 26 that it would suspend all train services in the Sapporo area from the first departure to conduct snow removal operations. Service is expected to resume after 1 p.m. Jan. 26.
While general roads remained passable, posts on X from the evening of Jan. 25 described scenes of chaos, with one commenting, “A line of more than 200 people at the taxi stand — this is disaster level,” while another said, “It’s packed with people who can’t get out.”
One X account, seemingly belonging to a passenger who arrived at the airport that day, posted, “I’ve arrived at New Chitose, but it’s become a landlocked island and I’m checkmated. In the worst case I might have to stay overnight at the airport.”
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency’s Sapporo Regional Headquarters, heavy snow hit Hokkaido on Jan. 25, particularly in the Ishikari region, where New Chitose Airport is located. In Sapporo’s Chuo Ward, 54 centimeters of snow fell in the 24 hours up to 10 p.m., marking the highest January snowfall since statistics began being kept in March 1999.
(Japanese original by Tamami Kawakami, Digital News Group; Buntaro Saito, Tokyo City News Department; and Ayako Morihara, Hokkaido News Department)
AloJapan.com