Funny Culture

A Mountain Lodge Posted a Snow Photo and Japan Immediately Got Hungry

Thin snow folding off a rooftop high in the Northern Alps looked exactly like noodles — and no one could think about anything else.

· 3 min · Togetter

What's going on

Hotakadake Sanso (穂高岳山荘) is a mountain lodge near the summit of Oku-Hotaka in the Northern Japan Alps, sitting at around 2,983 meters above sea level. On a mid-May morning, after an unexpected bout of bad weather, the lodge posted a single photo — and it quietly went viral.

The image shows a thin layer of snow (mixed with hail) that had settled on the roof and was slowly being pushed off the edge, folding over itself in delicate, stacked sheets as it fell. The lodge described it as looking like kishimen or tokoroten, and the comparison landed immediately. The replies poured in — and almost to a person, Japan's very first instinct was to think about food.

Comments

@3190 — Official
Good morning from Hotakadake Sanso! Here’s a shot from two days ago when the weather suddenly shifted. A thin layer of snow (mixed with hail) was slowly being pushed off the roof, folding over itself in layers — just like kishimen (wide, flat wheat noodles from the Nagoya area) or tokoroten (cold agar jelly pressed through a grid into thin, noodle-like strands). Yesterday and today are clear blue skies. 5/16 Sat. 6:00a.m. / Weather: Clear / Temp: 0°C
Nature really is something~ It honestly does look like kishimen or tokoroten lol
Amazing! This reminds me of those dances where you hold something flat in both hands and flap it around! And it folds so neatly. Does it not melt?!
This is wild!! Who knew snow could form like this!
Snow in May ☃️ Never underestimate the mountains…
There was a paper arguing that subducted oceanic plate slabs fold something like this — which is apparently why back-arc basins (shallow seas that form behind island arcs as tectonic plates pull apart) keep forming in repeated cycles~
May in the Northern Alps!
The little snow sprites are folding up their futons and heading back to the sky. Some fold them neatly, some do it sloppily, some just sort of give up halfway. Each one has its own personality. …That’s what it looks like to me anyway.
What even IS this lmao
Looks so good 🤤
It’s all floppy and droopy
Incredible! It really does look like tokoroten! So this is how snow works…😧
This is the origin of hoto noodles. (Hoto is a thick, flat noodle dish from Yamanashi Prefecture, simmered in miso broth with vegetables.) (Kidding.)
Kind of looks like wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets, often made from sweet bean paste or rice flour) 😊
I thought it was someone making washi paper (traditional Japanese handmade paper made from plant fibers). Never seen anything like this before. Thank you for sharing!
Now I want kishimen.
Snow toilet paper 🧻
Charlie and the Toilet Paper Factory
This is so interesting… but forget tiptoeing around it (the Japanese original uses an idiom meaning ‘soften your words’) — what everyone’s really thinking is: toilet paper! 😅
I did a double-take because all I could see was toilet paper 😳 Nature is something else… 😳
Couldn’t help but think of katsuramuki (the Japanese knife technique of peeling a daikon radish into one long, continuous paper-thin sheet).
Daikon katsuramuki!
Such beautiful katsuramuki ☺️
Here — look at this.
What even is this? I wanna pour yuzu ponzu (a tangy citrus-based dipping sauce made with yuzu and soy sauce) all over it and eat it.
Whoa. This is wild! Looks just like daikon katsuramuki lol

My take

Who knew snow could fold itself like this instead of just piling up? And the fact that everyone's first thought was food — well, that might just be the most Japanese thing about this whole situation.

Comments loosely translated for tone.

Source https://togetter.com/li/2697647