typhoons

In the midst of sunny mild fall days here in Tokyo we also have typhoons.  Typhoons and hurricanes are the same thing, just given different names for different regions.  A typhoon is a tropical storm in the Indian or Western Pacific Ocean.  It's from the Japanese word "Ty-phoo". (Just drop the "n" and you know another Japanese word!)

We never experienced Typhoons until we moved to Tokyo and we thought, "What's the big deal with a little wind and rain?".  We snickered at our Japanese friend who wouldn't come over one because the weather forecast warned about a coming typhoon.  (Granted you never know if, when or how much it will hit.)  Little did we know life stops in Tokyo for a typhoon.  You may be able to go out, but you'll probably never be able to get back.  Trains stop. Traffic stops.

The boy's school was canceled last week because a typhoon was forecasted to hit Tokyo about the time of Monday morning rush hour commute. Almost all the kids come to school by train.  Sure enough, the rain and wind pelted throughout the night and morning, but then by noon the sun was out with blue skies and it was hard to remember the flooding, evacuations, mudslides and even fatalities caused by a little wind and rain.