http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Asia/Story/A1Story20130304-406216.html
A father froze to death while sheltering his nine-year-old daughter from severe weekend blizzards that swept northern Japan, two years after her mother died, reports said Monday.
Mikio Okada died as he tried to protect his only child Natsune against winds of up to 109 kilometres (68 miles) per hour, as temperatures plunged to minus 6 Celsius (21 Fahrenheit).
Okada was one of at least nine people killed in a spate of snow-related incidents as blizzards swept across Hokkaido island, police said Monday.
Okada's body was uncovered by rescuers looking for the pair after relatives raised the alarm. Natsune was wearing her father's jacket and was wrapped in his arms, newspapers and broadcasters said.
The pair had last been heard from at 4 pm on Saturday, after fisherman Okada picked his daughter up from a school where she was being looked after while he was at work.
The young girl was taken to hospital where she was found to have no serious injuries. Her father was officially pronounced dead by doctors at the same institution near their home at Yubetsu on Hokkaido.
The paper quoted neighbours as saying Okada had been a doting father who would often delay the start of his working day to enjoy breakfast with his daughter.
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