UONUMA, Niigata -- While intense summer heat with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius continues for consecutive days in this central Japan prefecture of Niigata, it's possible to find a spot up in the mountains where there's snow year-round, making it not just cool, but cold.

       On July 19, when the mercury in this city's Sumon district hit 33.7 C -- the highest this year -- 78-year-old Uonuma resident Mitsuyoshi Buto, a member of a local nonprofit nature conservation organization, guided me through the 1,969-meter-high Mount Arasawa in the city's Ginzandaira district.

       Passing through Ginzandaira Camping Ground, we entered a hiking trail from the parking lot at the end of the road. On the way, Buto taught me the names of plants including Potentilla togasii, whose yellow flowers were blooming by our feet. About 45 minutes later, we were at the year-round snow field.

       While the mountain slopes were covered with snow, one could also sense a touch of spring: heaps of butterbur sprouts springing up from the snow melting under the summer sun. As the area is a V-shaped valley, snowfall and avalanches on the mountain slopes apparently form the permanent snow patches.

       "It is only the very snowy regions that allow us to view and to walk on snow even in midsummer," Buto said. "We want people to pay attention to footwear for hiking on trails and clothes for temperatures that can drop even in summer."

       The admission fee to the mountain is 200 yen (about $1.80). For more information, contact Uonuma City Tourist Association by phone at 025-792-7300 (in Japanese).

       (Japanese original by Yukio Itahana)

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