Japan's Clever Anti-Snow Roadways Shosetsu FTW Niigata, Japan gets a lot of snow. Way back in the 1960s, they figured out a way to keep the roads clear of snow without requiring plows. Groundwater warmed by geothermal heat is pumped through a network of pipes below the road surface, and sprayed onto the asphalt using sprinklers:The system is called shosetsu. Because the warmed water flows along the grade of the roads, it doesn't freeze and turn into ice—at least in Niigata, where the temperature...