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For those of us in that vast portion of North America that has remained snow-free for most of the year, the idea of a snow monster haunting the frigid landscape outside the safe confines of our homes seems a bit abstract. But in Japan, it is a very real prospect, that is if you consider oddly shaped trees to be your kind of nightmare.<\/p>\n
CNNGo has this slideshow of the so-called Snow Monsters of Zao in Yamagata Prefecture<\/a>. In reality, the snow monters aren’t all that scary. They’re just Aomori fir trees “that have been coated with extremely wet snow and ice carried by a cold Siberian jet stream that also freezes them almost solid” into odd human-like shapes. Not exactly the scariest thing you’ll encounter in Japan (that will probably come in the form of the “dancing squid” meals you have later on<\/a>), but a great sight to see nonetheless. Take that Matterhorn Yeti!<\/p>\n