If you thought that hanami season finished when the last of the cherry blossoms fell, think again. Even though Japan’s most famous blossoms are gone for another year, there are still chances to enjoy a hanami picnic before the sultry heat of summer kicks in.
Following signs off the beaten track to the Hiyoshi shrine […]

Not the most interesting flight path. As a result, I wasn’t glued to the window, avoiding sleep. We didn’t fly into Narita this time, but to Osaka, which meant that there was a good chance of spotting Mt. Fuji, provided there wasn’t too much cloud cover. About an hour before landing, this was the view […]

Through the winter, the rolling fields of Kyushu’s Aso and Kuju highlands are a light brown, with a carpet of long, dry susuki grass as far as the eye can see.
But with spring comes a clearing out of the old, making place for the new. Spring then is a time for fire festivals […]

Though it can seem hard to believe sometimes on those cold mornings, cherry blossom viewing season is right around the corner.
To help you plan your viewing schedule, here is a map (current as of February 26) of how the cherry blossom “front line” is expected to sweep across Japan in the weeks ahead.

It may have been 4° in my living room when I got up this morning, but a neighbour of mine assures me spring is just around the corner.
And with good reason.

Yes, it’s time to kick off the blankets and kick up the nature worship again. Parts of Japan might shivering be under […]

Sneak attack by Setsubun Devils?

Setsubun Devils enjoying the sudden snowstorm in Tokyo
A sudden snowstorm swept in silently and swiftly during the early morning hours in Tokyo this Feb. 3. Three centimeters of snow covered the capital in a fairly heavy snowfall. Train services were disrupted, traffic backed up, flights were cancelled, and at least […]

“A 200-strong army of beady-eyed, ball-shaped robots” is being deployed nationwide, says Pink Tentacle.
Not quite as scary as they might sound, these spherical chaps are “Pollen Robots” and are to be employed by Weathernews.jp to monitor the pollen count. And this being Japan, they have built-in Cute - the ‘eyes’ light up different colours as […]

Gizmodo has a scary photo showing a lightning bolt striking an airplane taking off at Osaka’s airport recently, then hitting the ground. There’s an even scarier video on the site.
Apparently lightning is not dangerous for airliners, since the charge just flows around their aluminum skin, but still… Gizmodo says no plane has crashed in the […]

Let’s be honest, Coolbiz hasn’t been what you would call a success, has it. Better than Warmbiz, perhaps, but these things are relative.
Well there may be an answer out there. You’ve seen plenty of unnecessary and expensive USB devices in the past. Is this just another one, or something different? Kuchofuku Inc. […]

Since it’s apparently the rainy season right now, it’s appropriate that Ame no hi mo tanoshii na! Kaeru bento (Rainy days are fun too! Frog bento) won the first “Character Bento” competition at Tokyo’s Chiyoda-ku, according to Mainichi Daily News.
The contest was designed to choose the best designed bento lunch modeled on animals and other […]

Japan’s vulnerability to natural disasters is increasing as skyscrapers mushroom in cities, shopping malls go underground and the population ages, a recent government report says.
“In addition to growing risk of natural hazards, our society has become more vulnerable to disasters,” the disaster prevention white paper said. According to an Associated Press report in China Post:
Densely […]

The Japan Meteorological Agency says Yellow Sand was observed in wide areas across Japan last weekend. In several places in the Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions, visibility fell to around five kilometers due to the phenomenon, according to the agency.
It said more yellow sand was on the way for areas from Okinawa Prefecture to Tohoku […]

Conversations about the ‘the four seasons’ by foreigners in Japan often focus on that cliched and dreaded icebreaker question (”Does your country has four seasons?”).
But recent posts on Japundit by Marie Mockett got me thinking about how much more effort goes into marking the arrival and passing of the seasons in Japan than in, say, […]

“Been a very mild winter in Tokyo,” its residents will tell you. “First winter on record with no snow!” This will prompt some folks into Global Warming talk, but it should in fact raise far more immediate concerns.
In the event of a nuclear war, so the myth goes, only the cockroaches would survive. What do […]

We’ve been watching the extra-cold winter dumping lots of snow on the U.S. this year and feeling more than a little guilty, what with Japan experiencing the warmest winter its had in decades and all.
The previous 1960 record for the latest snowfall in the Tokyo area has already been smashed, and with the bizarre […]

As I have mentioned on the Japan Talk podcast a number of times, it is unseasonably warm in the Tokyo area this year.
Now we get a report that the cherry trees in Tokyo’s Ueno Part have already started to bloom – about a month earlier than normal.
[O]fficials said five trees had already blossomed […]

Heaviest snowfall in five years

Tokyo received its heaviest snowfall in five years as nine centimeters of snow fell on the capital on Saturday, Jan. 21.

Cancelled flights in Narita and Haneda left thousands stranded at the airports. Over a hundred Tokyo residents have been injured from slips and falls. […]

Effects range from strandings to loss of life

Along the northwest coast of Japan record snowfall has caused severe damage to property and transportation facilities. Houses and buildings have collapsed from the excess weight of snow that accumulated to such a dangerous extent. Over 80 people have died in snow-related incidents, ranging from avalanches, […]

A “supertyphoon” is heading for Okinawa, Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula:
Typhoon Nabi, which is more powerful than Typhoon Rusa in 2002, which caused the worst damage to Korea, is likely to hit the Korean peninsula around September 6 or 7.
The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMT) announced yesterday, “As of noon on September 2, the 14th typhoon […]

The typhoon that’s hitting Japan is pretty big, and thanks to the Japan Weathernews Network’s Typoon Report, visitors can keep track of its progress.
The WNN also posts regularly updated feed from Japan’s Himawari weather satellite, so if you want to get a good idea of just how big this typhoon is, check it out.