JAPAN’S CLIMATE

Japan is relatively small, as countries go, but it is very long and narrow. Its length alone contributes to its various weather condtions. Northern Hokkaido is on the same latitude northern Montana. The southernmost island is at 20 degrees north latitude which is about the same as Mexico City and Havana, Cuba.

Most of Hokkaido is in the Sub-Arctic Zone. Winters are cold with temperatures well below freezing and summers are short but warm. The summer days are long as are winter nights.

Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu are in the Temporate Zone. Northern Honshu has winters with heavy snow and daytime temperatures stay in the 20 and 30 on the Fahrenheit scale. The Tokyo area in central Honshu gets occasional snow but usually not more than a couple of inches. Summers in the big city are hot and humid. Western Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku get downright hot in the summer and winter temperatures can dip into the 40s.Snow is a rarity.

Okinawa is the largest of numerous small islands that lie south of Kyushu. These islands are in the Subtropical Zone and have long, hot summers and short, cool winters.

The four main islands enjoy the four distinct seasons but there is another unofficial season, the rainy season. The rainy season begins in the south and seems to move northward as spring becomes summer. It brings fog, drizzle and rain which normally lasts 3 to 6 weeks.

Tyhpoons do not spare these islands. Of course the southenmost part of the country experiences typhoons more often and with more intensity. However, typhoons have been known to do considerable damage as far north as northern Honshu. The typhoon season begins in June and runs through November with August to October being the most intense.

So, as you can see, a number of factors contribute to Japan varied seasons, wild weather changes and patterns that defy prediction.

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