Shoe for winter in tokyo

I will be in tokyo and niigata area during Mid Dec this year. I live in a tropical country where there is only summer. I am quite afarid of cold. I wished to know normal hiking shoe with two layer of socks is it good enough or I really need to buy a pair of winter shoe or snow shoe.

Normal walking shoes with one pair of heavy socks should be OK.

For Niigata, you may want to wear winter boots, as Niigata is on the Sea of Japan side and they do get heavy snow there in winter.

snow boots UGG style. bought some fakes from a china site for a bargain and they shielded me well from the cold and were more than sufficiently padded for long distance walking.

I haven't been to Niigata but I have been to Kanazawa (southwest of it) in late December. I think that side of Japan is known for the amount of rain. It was very slushy, so our shoes (even snow boots and leather/gortex boots) got saturated, it was a complete pain. If I was to go to Kanazawa again, I'd buy cheap rubber boots. But Tokyo is pretty dry in December, so walking shoes or hiking boots are fine.