Japan gets its 'hatsuyuki' - first snow! September 11 2009, 2:00pm via powderlife.com

THE first snow has fallen in Japan in the lead up to winter 2009/10, on the 1984m peak of Mt Kurodake,the Kyodo News Agency has reported.

Last year's first snow fall was on Mt Asahidake - Hokkaido's highest peak - on September 24 so this year's snow is a full two weeks earlier.

On Wednesday afternoon the cable car operator at Mt Kurodake confirmed it had snowed on the mountain's peak.