No need for grit on these icy roads!

I hear that the UK is gripped in a grit shortage in the midst of the wintry weather that is smothering the country. The Japanese however, have a different way of dealing with heavy snow. They pour water over it.

Parts of Japan spend most of the winter months under meters of snow, namely the ski resort areas, they have perforated hoses built into the road which spray water to melt the ice and snow. To be honest they also combine this water system with huge snow ploughs which move the general mass of snow out of the way first.

Anyway this de-icing system seems to have been built into the main roads of the northern parts of Japan, as we saw in Takayama. It is a lot more friendly than grit as it wont try and attack your windshield at speed. We did however see some very enthusiastic jets of water, which managed to shoot over cars. I think it was aiming at cyclists.

The system does seem like a huge waste of water, and i have no idea how they keep the pipes from freezing up.