John Resig

"I posted some more details on the art behind the imagery [over on /r/art](http://www.reddit.com/r...). However here you're probably more interested to learn that this art form is called [Tanbo art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...) and is popularized by the [Inakadate village](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...) to promote tourism. A number of pictures of their most recent work can be [found online](http://www.vill.inakadate.lg.jp/docs...)." - John Resig

"Very cool! For those interested in the Japanese art - the "wave" and "mountain" are based off of prints by [Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎)](http://ukiyo-e.org/artist...). They're both part of the print series "36 Views of Mount Fuji" (which is actually 46 prints) all depicting the famous mountain: Fuji. * [The Great Wave off Kanagawa](http://ukiyo-e.org/image...). Note the tiny Mount Fuji in the background (looks like a wave - that sly Hokusai!) and also note the poor people being tossed around on the boats! * [South wind, clear sky](http://ukiyo-e.org/image...) and [Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit](http://ukiyo-e.org/image...) are the two most-famous views of Fuji from the series. It's a bit hard to tell which one is being depicted here but both are beautiful. Now if you see the "demons" holding the sheets those are by Ogata Korin depicting the Wind God and the Thunder God and are [painted on the same panel..." - John Resig

"Thank you for posting this - Yoshida Hiroshi is a fantastic artist, I love his work. If others are interested in seeing more you can browse about 900 of his pieces here: http://ukiyo-e.org/artist..." - John Resig

"Just started reading this as well - excited!" - John Resig

"I'm just going to leave this here: http://www.city-data.com/top2... I grew up in Syracuse where the average annual snowfall is 294cm. And this is in a city, not in the mountains. Not all of the country is created the same. As others have mentioned places like Austin or Washington D.C. have significantly more trouble when there is any snowfall." - John Resig