JANUARY 15, 2014 KYOTO -- A father froze to death while sheltering his eight years old daughter from severe weekend snowstorms that swept northern Japan. Fujita Makoto, one of at least nine people killed as snowstorms swept across Hokkaido  , died as he tried to protect his only child Yumi against winds of up to 113 kilometers per hour in Hokkaido, as temperatures fell sharply to minus 6 degrees centigrade. Makoto's body was uncovered by rescuers looking for the pair after  s raised the alarm. Yumi was wearing her father's jacket and was wrapped in his arms. The pair had last been heard from at 4 p. m. on Saturday, after fisherman Makoto picked his daughter up from a school where she was being looked after while he was at work. Makoto called his  s to say his truck had become stuck in the driving snow, which was several meters deep in places. He told them he and Yumi would walk the remaining kilometers. The two were found just 300 meters from the truck at 7 a.m. on Sunday. Makoto had his body bent over his daughter, gently holding her in his arms and apparently using his body and a warehouse wall to provide shelter. The small 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 hospital. The newspaper Yomiuri said Yumi's mother had died of illness two years earlier. The paper quoted neighbors as saying Makoto had been an extremely caring father who would often delay the start of his working day to enjoy breakfast with his daughter. His death came as families all over Japan celebrated Girls' Day, a festival in which they gather at home and decorate houses with dolls. "He reserved a cake for his only daughter and was looking forward to celebrating Dolls' Festival together," a neighbor told the Yomiuri. When the disaster happened, the father and daughter were   _  .
returning home after visiting  s just 300 meters away from home driving home after a visit to a hospital on their way home from the girl's school