Imposing ice curtains awe visitors in Japan's Nagano Prefecture

Majestic curtains of ice hang on a riverside in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, wowing tourists. Water dripping out of a mountain cliff freezes into huge icicles on a bank of the Nishino River in Kiso Town around this time every year. The tapering formations are known as the Shirakawa Ice Pillars. 

They can collectively grow about 50 meters tall and roughly 250 meters wide at their largest. This season's icicles started to appear around December 20. Frigid weather in recent days has helped create the spectacle. Visitors can enjoy the sight of the ice pillars through mid-February.