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Japan Climate
Japan is generally a rainy country with high humidity.
Because
of its wide range of latitude, Japan has a variety of
climates,
with a range often compared to that of the east coast of
North
America, from Nova Scotia to Georgia. Tokyo is at about 36
north
latitude, comparable to that of Tehran, Athens, or Los
Angeles. The
generally humid, temperate climate exhibits marked
seasonal
variation celebrated in art and literature, as well as
regional
variations ranging from cool in Hokkaido to subtropical in
Kyushu.
Climate also varies with altitude and with location on the
Pacific
Ocean or on the Sea of Japan. Northern Japan has warm
summers but
long, cold winters with heavy snow. Central Japan has hot,
humid
summers and short winters, and southwestern Japan has
long, hot,
humid summers and mild winters.
Two primary factors influence Japan's climate: a
location near
the Asian continent and the existence of major oceanic
currents.
The climate from June to September is marked by hot, wet
weather
brought by tropical airflows from the Pacific Ocean and
Southeast
Asia. These airflows are full of moisture and deposit
substantial
amounts of rain when they reach land. There is a marked
rainy
season, beginning in early June and continuing for about a
month.
It is followed by hot, sticky weather. Five or six
typhoons pass
over or near Japan every year from early August to early
September,
sometimes resulting in significant damage. Annual
precipitation,
which averages between 100 and 200 centimeters, is
concentrated in
the period between June and September. In fact, 70 to 80
percent of
the annual precipitation falls during this period. In
winter, a
high-pressure area develops over Siberia, and a
low-pressure area
develops over the northern Pacific Ocean. The result is a
flow of
cold air eastward across Japan that brings freezing
temperatures
and heavy snowfalls to the central mountain ranges facing
the Sea
of Japan, but clear skies to areas fronting on the
Pacific.
Two major ocean currents affect this climatic pattern:
the warm
Kuroshio Current (Black Current; also known as the Japan
Current);
and the cold Oyashio Current (Parent Current; also known
as the
Okhotsk Current). The Kuroshio Current flows northward on
the
Pacific side of Japan and warms areas as far north as
Tokyo; a
small branch, the Tsushima Current, flows up the Sea of
Japan side.
The Oyashio Current, which abounds in plankton beneficial
to coldwater fish, flows southward along the northern Pacific,
cooling
adjacent coastal areas. The meeting point of these
currents at 36
north latitude is a bountiful fishing ground.
Data as of January 1994
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