Japan receives early snowfall

TOKYO -- The Japanese capital got its earliest blanket of snow in a decade on Monday, snarling air, road and rail travel and causing accidents that injured more than 200 people.

The Meteorological Agency recorded 0.4 inch of slush on the ground across the city and said temperatures hovered just above freezing.

The last time Tokyo got snow this early was in December 1991, when about the same amount fell, said agency spokesman Masakazu Tazaki. The snow stopped falling in the capital by Monday evening.

Utsunomiya, a city north of Tokyo, got nearly seven inches of snow, the most there for the month of December since 1912.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that 208 people in the Tokyo metropolitan area were injured in accidents due to the snow and the resulting slippery streets and sidewalks.

In the port city of Yokohama, an 11-year old boy lost consciousness after falling off the roof of a five-story building where he was playing in the snow with friends, police said.

Delayed flights

Dozens of domestic flights were delayed or canceled at Tokyo's Haneda airport, where crews worked all morning to clear runways of snow and ice. Japan Airlines, the country's No. 1 carrier, said it canceled 34 flights, and All Nippon Airways, the second-largest carrier, canceled 16 flights.

Narita international airport spokesman Kunio Hasegawa said all flights were delayed by two to three hours.

Local media said train and monorail services to Tokyo were disrupted and highways and roads jammed. Some bullet trains from the capital were suspended or delayed.

Police said there were no reports of snow-related deaths.