It only snows in Kyoto a few times a year and it's even more rare for it to stick to the ground. So people in the Japanese city this past weekend were in for a real treat when a cold air mass hit the country, covering the entire region in a blanket of snow.
Here are some of those magical scenes that locals and travelers posted on Instagram and Twitter from Kyoto this weekend.
People who braved the snow to visit the famed Arashiyama Bamboo Grove commented on the eeriness of this typically crowded destination.
Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto's gold-leaf covered temple, looked like something out of a fairytale covered in all that snow.
The five stories of the Yasaka Pagoda in the city's Higashiyama District were also totally transformed by snowfall.
The vermillion torii gates of the Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine and the bright red buildings of the Kiyomizu Temple popped against the bright white snow.
The weather was also perfect for making snowmen, or in this case, a snow Totoro.
But must adorably, these felines couldn't get enough of watching the falling snow from the warmth of the cat cafe they call home.
(h/t Bored Panda)
