I just wanted to comment quickly on the snow here. First of all, there is a lot of it. Secondly, they have a unique snow removal system.

On some of the smaller streets and sidewalks they have underground pipes that spray warm water onto the snow. The result is no snow, but lots of water. Recently I bought rubber boots (a little small, but $8) just to keep my feet dry from the giant puddles of water, especially where the sidewalk meets the street.

I figure that Toyama must be unique with this massive water-spraying system for several reasons. One, you need a lot of water to do this. Obviously you can't be worried about a drought. In Toyama that is never a problem. Second, you need to have enough snow to make it worthwhile. For small amounts of snow, the benefit wouldn't exceed the cost. Third, you need a high temperature with your snow. If the temperature goes much below freezing, you might have a lot of frozen and cracked pipes on your hands. Toyama gets a lot of snow mostly because of the mountains and precipitation levels, not because it is really cold.

Anyway, I thought you might find that interesting. It does make walking a little worse however, since you tend to get sprayed by water sometimes.