Home
Weather New York
WeatherRadar
RainRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
Career
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Valentine's phenomenon: Japan's diamond jewellery ice

02:00 PM
February 16, 2025

Winter phenomenon
Japan's diamond jewelery ice

Jewellery ice washed up on Otsu beach in Toyokoro, Hokkaido.
Jewellery ice washed up on Otsu beach in Toyokoro, Hokkaido. - © picture alliance

Every winter, Japan's Hokkaido coast is graced by a rare natural phenomenon called "jewelery ice", where the ice sparkles just like diamonds.

The weather is never in short supply of feeling romantic with Japan's jewelery ice. It is created along the country's Hokkaido coast and forms as ice from the Tokachi River breaks apart at the river's mouth and gets washed up on the beach.

Sand and waves together polish the ice to become extremely smooth and shiny. The phenomenon occurs only on Otsu Beach in Hokkaido, during the coldest days of winter, generally between January and February.

During winter, the temperature of the Tokachi River can drop below -4°F, but it can take a long time to freeze. This gives the ice a high transparency with no impurities.

Throughout the day, the angle of the sun bathes the ice rounds in different colors; in an orange glow at first light, to a deep blue later in the day.

Becca Parker
More on the topic
Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan. 155 mph winds. . Weather Videos. Wednesday, July 8, 2026
The image shows an intense tropical cyclone over the western Pacific, east of Taiwan and the Philippines. The centre of the system is depicted as a light purple and white vortex with a clearly visible eye, surrounded by a ring of red and orange areas indicating the strongest wind speeds. A white arrow marks the typhoon’s predicted track towards the north-west, in the direction of Taiwan. To the west of the storm lie the Philippines, with the cities of Manila and Cebu; to the north of these lies Taiwan, with Taipei. Further west, the Chinese coast, including Hong Kong, and parts of Vietnam can be seen. The coloured wind map shows predominantly green areas outside the storm’s core, indicating significantly weaker winds. White streamlines illustrate the typhoon’s anti-clockwise circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. The highest wind speeds are concentrated around the eye of the cyclone.
Weather VideosWednesday, July 8, 2026

155 mph winds

Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan
High pressure & extreme heat. Why & how does it work?. . . Sunday, July 12, 2026
Sunday, July 12, 2026

Why & how does it work?

High pressure & extreme heat
How does fog form?. Multiple ways. . . Saturday, July 11, 2026
Saturday, July 11, 2026

Multiple ways

How does fog form?
All weather news
This might also interest you
Dangerous air quality continues. Canada wildfires smoke. . . Friday, July 17, 2026
Smoky Philadelphia
Friday, July 17, 2026

Canada wildfires smoke

Dangerous air quality continues
Gulf system is becoming better organized. It moves slowly. . . Monday, July 20, 2026
Monday, July 20, 2026

It moves slowly

Gulf system is becoming better organized
Multi-Day flood threat for Mid-Atlantic. Stalled front. . . Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Stalled front

Multi-Day flood threat for Mid-Atlantic
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

instagramfacebookthreadslinkList