Meteorological Conditions of the Great Famines in the Last Half of The Tokugawa Period, Japan

Abstract

The first part of this paper deals with the meteorological conditions of the three great famines in Japan 1782∼1787, 1833∼1839 and 1866∼1869. For this climatological chronology to have its maximum value reliable and quantitative data are cited with care. The second part deals with four principal factors that may determine what the climate for North Japan shall be. Violent eruptions, variation in the measured intensity of solar radiation, solar activities and water-temperature variation in the North-West Pacific Ocean, are quite of importance as meteorological factors and have significance from a seasonal-forecasting point of view. It should be remarked that these famines resulted from the coldness of the summer with unseasonable prolonged rains, while serious famines in India and other monsoon lands result when the rains are far below normal. © 1955, Japan Meteorological Agency. All rights reserved.