As morning frosts fall on the vast marshlands of Oze National Park, north of Tokyo, final preparations are under way for the quiet winter season.

The park, with its alpine flowers and scenic mountains, straddles 4 prefectures, including Gunma. In the tourist season it attracts 300,000 hikers. But its 21 huts are closed during the snowy winter months.

Workers are busy preparing to close the Ryugu Hut in the Ozegahara marshland.

After seeing off the season's last visitors on Sunday, they started removing the tatami mats from the floor to keep them from freezing in the winter.

They also covered the windows with wooden boards to help them withstand the weight of the snow. The area often gets snowfalls of several meters.

The hut will be closed on Tuesday and reopened in late April.

A staff worker says he is heading home after spending half a year at the hut.

Most of Oze's lodging and visitor facilities will be open again in May, when the tourist season starts.