Monday 2 November 2009

The winter generals

The winter generals are on the march.
After yesterday's balmy 25 degrees today is 16.
Japan, a land where most things can have a spirit and anything can (and is personified, experiences a radical weather shift when the warm typhoon winds stop blowing from the south and the cold winds from Siberia start to blow across from Korea: the winter generals (or fuyu shogun) are marching and the weather reports show just that.    I don't have the technology set up to take an image from the TV news and put it here, so I've pinched one from another (Japanese) website.

The weather reports here tend to be cheerfully helpful.  In the much the same way that Sydney or Newcastle weather reports might tell you tomorrow is a great day for heading down to the beach,  the swells are ideal for surfers or to make sure that you smother yourself in factor 30,   weather reports here remind you to take an umbrella, tell you it's a good day for hanging out your  futon or that the weather is perfect for doing the washing.
The heater is out though, and the winter generals are likely to be here until Feb or March when the date of the first winds from the south are meticulously recorded by the Japanese Meteorological Agency.



d.hatena.ne.jp/bluesapphire/20051107/1131372787