Life in Japan

Typhoon Season in Japan

9 September 2015

September is typhoon season in Japan and it has lashed out in full force!

Central Japan is seeing the worst of it – winds up to 180kph!!! – and comparatively, Tokyo is having it easy. Just lots and lots of rain, and for the first time, I saw flooding on my way home earlier.

Fu’s prof’s family arrived in Tokyo yesterday and when I told them about typhoons approaching Tokyo, they were quite worried. For those unaccustomed to typhoons, generally speaking, Tokyo is pretty sheltered and there isn’t much to worry about. But of course, be smart and stay tuned to the latest weather updates (Japan Meteorological Agency page for example).

Tokyo right now

In most cases, it’s only warnings of heavy rainfall. In all our time in Japan, there was only once where we were advised to stay indoors due to strong winds. While we were heading home after the warning, we were literally blown half the way home. The winds were that strong! And the windows rattled for a good part of the night as the wind whipped relentlessly outside.

In the face of strong winds, most umbrellas are useless and will be decimated in the blink of an eye. That transparent umbrella you bought from the convenience store? You’ll have better luck keeping your head dry by tying a plastic bag over it.

But I got myself a sturdier-than-average umbrella, and it has withstood quite a few strong winds!

BEHOLD MY 16-SPOKE UMBRELLA!!!

#500yenonly #waterfrontbrand

This is my final defense against the rainy+windy days to come. Let’s hope it holds out!

2 Comments

  • Reply nico 13 September 2015 at 12:06 am

    still be careful! the 16 spoke umbrella may just be the surface area for the winds to lift you off the street!

    (and there was a tokyo bay earthquake in the morning yesterday, thankfully it was 70km below surface, if not the damage would have been worse)

    • Reply Rin 13 September 2015 at 10:40 pm

      Yes, that’s true… since it won’t break as most umbrellas would! But the good thing is the typhoons have now gone on their happy way away from Japan now :)

      Yeah, the earthquake was pretty strong and woke us up (although we both fell asleep within a few seconds after that :P)

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