Abstract
In the 1980-1981 winter, exceptionally heavy snows covered the southern Tohoku, Hokuriku, northern Chubu, and northern Kinki in Honshu island. This event was called “56-gosetsu” (heavy snow in the 56th year of Showa era, or 1981) which was heavier than the “38-gosetsu” in 1963. The total dead were 133 which was caused by avalanches, falling from roofs, falling into gutters, and sudden illness during snow removal, of these 65% were over 51 years of age. It is found that the increase in mortality in snowy cities is proportional to the deviation of the maximum snow depth from the average.
