(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Japan Meteorological Agency - Wikipedia
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Japan Meteorological Agency

The Japan Meteorological Agency (気象庁きしょうちょう, Kishō-chō) (JMA) is an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.[4] Headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, the JMA is charged with gathering and providing results to the public that are obtained from data based on daily scientific observation and research into natural phenomena in the fields of meteorology, hydrology, seismology, and volcanology, among other related scientific fields.

Japan Meteorological Agency
Kishō-chō (気象庁きしょうちょう)
Logo

Headquarters building in Tokyo
Agency overview
FormedJuly 1, 1956; 68 years ago (1956-07-01)
Preceding agencies
  • Tokyo Meteorological Observatory
  • Central Meteorological Observatory
JurisdictionGovernment of Japan
Headquarters3-6-9 Toranomon, Minato City, Tokyo, Japan
35°39′57″N 139°44′45″E / 35.66583°N 139.74583°E / 35.66583; 139.74583
Employees5,539 (2010)[1]
Annual budget¥62.0 billion (2010–11)[2]
¥59.0 billion (2011–12)[3]
¥58.9 billion (est. 2012)[3]
Agency executives
  • Toshihiko Hashida, Director-General
  • Itaru Kaga, Deputy Director-General
Parent agencyMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Websitejma.go.jp

The JMA is responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts for the general public, as well as providing aviation and marine weather data. Its other responsibilities include issuing warnings for volcanic eruptions and the nationwide issuance of earthquake warnings of the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system. JMA is also designated one of the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It is responsible for forecasting, naming, and distributing warnings for tropical cyclones in the Northwestern Pacific region, including the Celebes Sea, the Sulu Sea, the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk.

History

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Meteorological organizations in Japan have their origins in the 1870s, when the first weather stations started being established in the country.[1] One of these was the Tokyo Meteorological Observatory (東京とうきょう気象台きしょうだい, Tōkyō Kishō-dai), which since 1956 has been known as the Japan Meteorological Agency (気象庁きしょうちょう, Kishō-chō). It was originally formed within the Survey Division of the Geography Bureau of the Home Ministry (内務省ないむしょう地理ちり寮りょう量りょう地ち課か, Naimu-shō Chiri-ryō Ryōchi-ka).[1][5] However, jurisdiction over the agency has changed several times over the years, and since the Japanese government reformation in 2001, it has been an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土こくど交通省こうつうしょう, Kokudo-kōtsū-shō). Its headquarters have also changed several times, and as of November 24, 2020, they are now located in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo.[6]

Timeline

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JMA headquarters in Ōtemachi (1964–2020)
  • August 26, 1872 – The first weather station in Japan was set up in Hakodate, Hokkaido. It is the precursor of the present Hakodate Weather Station (函館はこだて海洋かいよう気象台きしょうだい, Hakodate Kaiyō Kishō-dai).[1]
  • June 1875 – The original Tokyo Meteorological Observatory (東京とうきょう気象台きしょうだい, Tōkyō Kishō-dai) was formed within the Survey Division of the Geography Bureau of the Home Ministry (内務省ないむしょう地理ちり寮りょう量りょう地ち課か, Naimu-shō Chiri-ryō Ryōchi-ka).[1][5]
  • January 1, 1887 – The Tokyo Meteorological Observatory was renamed as the Central Meteorological Observatory (中央ちゅうおう気象台きしょうだい, Chūō Kishō-dai), with the transfer of its jurisdiction to the Home Ministry.
  • April 1895 – The Ministry of Education (文部省もんぶしょう, Monbushō) replaced the preceding ministry as an administrator of the Observatory.
  • January 1, 1923 – The main office was moved to Motoe-machi, Kōjimachi-ku (later Takehira-chō 1). it is located near a moat surrounding the Imperial Palace.[7]
  • November 1943 – The Ministry of Transport and Communications (運輸うんゆ通信つうしん省しょう, Un'yu Tūshin-shō) took over Central Meteorological Observatory operation.
  • May 1945 – JMA became part of the Ministry of Transport (運輸省うんゆしょう, Un'yu-shō).
  • July 1, 1956 – The Central Meteorological Observatory became an agency of the Ministry of Transport, and has been renamed to the Japan Meteorological Agency (気象庁きしょうちょう, Kishō-chō).
  • March 1964 – The headquarters office was relocated to Ōtemachi, Chiyoda-ku.
  • January 6, 2001 – The JMA became an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土こくど交通省こうつうしょう, Kokudo-kōtsū-shō) with the Japanese government reformation.
  • 2013 – It was announced that it would be scheduled to move the headquarters into Toranomon, Minato-ku.[7]
  • November 24, 2020 - JMA moved to its new headquarters in Toranomon, Minato-ku.[6]

Services

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Overview

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The JMA is responsible for observing, gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts, and warning for earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and volcanic eruptions..[8]

The agency has six regional administrative offices (including five DMOs and Okinawa Meteorological Observatory), four Marine Observatories, five auxiliary facilities, four Aviation Weather Service Centers and 47 local offices composed of the LMOs. These are also used to gather data, supplemented by weather satellites such as Himawari, and other research institutes.[8]

In 1968, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) designated the JMA as a Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for Asia.[9] In June 1988, the WMO also assigned the JMA as a RSMC for the Northwestern Pacific under its Tropical Cyclone programme.[9] In July 1989, the RSMC Tokyo – Typhoon Center was established within the headquarters office, which dealt with the forecasting and dissemination of active tropical cyclones, as well as preparing a summary of each year's cyclone activity.[10]

Observation and forecast

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Weather

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Land weather
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Each DMO and LMO issues weather forecasts and warnings or advisories to the general public live in its own area. Weather data used to these forecasts are acquired from the Surface Observation (represented by the AMeDAS), the Radar Observation, the Observation and the Satellite Observation mainly using the Himawari series of satellites.

Marine weather
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See also: Marine weather forecasting

The Marine Observatories are seated in Hakodate, Maizuru, Kobe, Nagasaki. These stations observe ocean waves, tide levels, sea surface temperatures and ocean currents etc. in the Northwestern Pacific basin, as well as the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and provide marine meteorological forecasts in cooperation with the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department, Japan Coast Guard.

Aviation weather
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See also: METAR and SIGMET

In 2005, in accordance with the ICAO's new CNS/ATM system, the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism set up the Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) in Fukuoka, where the FIR is fixed. Along with this establishment, JMA placed the Air Traffic Mateorology Center (ATMetC) inside the ATMC.

The agency forecasts SIGMET for aircraft in flight within the Fukuoka FIR airspace, while VOLMET is broadcast by each Aviation Weather Service Center at the airports of Haneda, Narita, Centrair and Kansai.

Tropical cyclones
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See also: Typhoon and 2024 Pacific typhoon season

In the Northwestern Pacific area, the typhoon season ordinarily comes almost from May to November. The JMA forecasts and warns or advises on tropical cyclones to the public in Japan and its surrounding countries as the RSMC Tokyo – Typhoon Center.[11]

Earthquakes

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See also: Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale and Earthquake Early Warning (Japan)

The JMA has 624 observation stations across Japan[12] which are set up at intervals of 20 km approximately[13] in order to measure the seismic intensity of earthquakes precisely. The agency also utilizes about 2,900 seismographs[12] owned by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) and local governments. A 24-hour office is housed within the JMA headquarters in Tokyo for monitoring and tracking seismic events in the vicinity of Japan to collect and process their data, which distributes observed earthquake information on its hypocenter, magnitude, seismic intensity and possibility of tsunami occurrence after quakes quickly to the public through the Earthquake Phenomena Observation System (EPOS).[14] The Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system began to work fully for the general public on October 1, 2007.

The agency is one of the representatives of the national Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.[15]

Tsunamis

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See also: Tsunami warning system

In case of a possibility of tsunami after an earthquake, JMA issues Tsunami Warning or Advisory for each region in Japan with information of estimated tsunami heights and arrival times within 2 to 3 minutes of the quake.

Volcanoes

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See also: Volcanic Ash Advisory Center

The agency four Volcanic Observations and Information Centers within DMOs in Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo and Fukuoka. These centers monitor volcanic events on 110 active volcanos in Japan. 47 of these volcanos selected by the Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruption are under 24-hour observation with seismographs, accelerometers, GPS, air-shock recorders, fixed point observation cameras and other equipment. If it is predicted that a volcanic eruption will affect inhabited areas or around a crater, Volcanic Warnings are issued and supplemented by Volcanic Alert Levels.

Organization

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Headquarters

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  • JMA Headquarters (気象庁きしょうちょう本庁ほんちょう, Kishō-chō Honchō)
  • Director-General (長官ちょうかん, Chōkan)
  • Deputy Director-General (次長じちょう, Jichō)
  • Deputy Director-General for Disaster Mitigation (気象きしょう防災ぼうさい監かん, Kishō-Bousaikan)
    • Administration Department (総務そうむ部ぶ, Sōmu-bu)
      • Counselors (参事官さんじかん, Sanjikan)
    • Information Infrastructure Department (情報じょうほう基盤きばん部ぶ, Johō-kiban-bu)
    • Atmosphere and Ocean Department (大気たいき海洋かいよう部ぶ, Taiki-kaiyō-bu)
    • Seismology and Volcanology Department (地震じしん火山かざん部ぶ, Jishin-kazan-bu)

Local offices

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Auxiliary organs

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Directors-General and Chief Executives

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Chief Executives of Central Meteorological Observatory

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  1. Arai Ikunosuke (荒井あらい 郁いく之これ助すけ): 1890–1891
  2. Kobayashi Kazutomo (小林こばやし 一知かずとも): 1891–1895
  3. Nakamura Kiyoo (中村なかむら 精きよし男おとこ): 1895–1923
  4. Okada Takematsu (岡田おかだ 武松たけまつ): 1923–1941
  5. Fujiwhara Sakuhei (藤原ふじわら 咲さき平たいら): 1941–1947
  6. Wadachi Kiyoo (和かず達いたる 清夫すみお): 1947–1956

Directors-General of JMA

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  1. Wadachi Kiyoo (和かず達いたる 清夫すみお): 1956–1963
  2. Hatakeyama Hisanao (畠山はたけやま 久尚ひさなお): 1963–1965
  3. Shibata Yoshiji (柴田しばた 淑よし次じ): 1965–1969
  4. Yoshitake Motoji (吉武よしたけ 素もと二に): 1969–1971
  5. Takahashi Koūchirō (高橋たかはし 浩ひろし一郎いちろう): 1971–1974
  6. Mouri Keitarō (毛利もうり 圭太郎けいたろう): 1974–1976
  7. Arizumi Naosuke (有住ありずみ 直ただし介かい): 1976–1978
  8. Kubota Masaya (窪田くぼた 正八しょうはち): 1978–1980
  9. Masuzawa Jōtarō (増澤ますざわ 譲ゆずる太郎たろう): 1980–1983
  10. Suehiro Shigeji (末廣すえひろ 重二しげじ): 1983–1985
  11. Uchida Eiji (内田うちだ 英治えいじ): 1985–1987
  12. Kikuchi Yukio (菊地きくち 幸雄ゆきお): 1987–1990
  13. Tatehira Ryōzō (立たて平たいら 良三りょうぞう): 1990–1992
  14. Nitta Takashi (新田にった 尚しょう): 1992–1993
  15. Ninomiya Kōzō (二宮にのみや 洸こう三さん): 1993–1996
  16. Ono Toshiyuki (小野おの 俊行としゆき): 1996–1998
  17. Takigawa Yūsō (瀧川たきがわ 雄壮ゆうそう): 1998–2000
  18. Yamamoto Kōji (山本やまもと 孝二こうじ): 2000–2003
  19. Kitade Takeo (北出きたいで 武夫たけお): 2003–2004
  20. Nagasaka Kōichi (長坂ながさか 昴すばる一いち): 2004–2006
  21. Hiraki Satoshi (平木ひらき 哲あきら): 2006–2009
  22. Sakurai Kunio (櫻井さくらい 邦雄くにお): 2009–2011
  23. Hatori Mitsuhiko (羽鳥はとり 光彦みつひこ): 2011–2014
  24. Nishide Noritake (西出にしで 則武のりたけ): 2014–2016
  25. Hashida Toshihiko (橋田はしだ 俊彦としひこ): 2016–2019
  26. Sekita Yasuo (関田せきた 康雄やすお): 2019–2021
  27. Hasegawa Naoyuki (長谷川はせがわ直之なおゆき): 2021-present

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e 総合そうごうパンフレット「気象庁きしょうちょう」 (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. January 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  2. ^ 平成へいせい23年度ねんど 気象庁きしょうちょう関係かんけい予算よさん決定けってい概要がいよう (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. December 24, 2010. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  3. ^ a b 平成へいせい24年度ねんど 気象庁きしょうちょう関係かんけい予算よさん決定けってい概要がいよう (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. December 24, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  4. ^ "国土こくど交通省こうつうしょう設置せっち法ほう (e-Gov)" (in Japanese). 総務そうむ省しょう. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Kan'ichi Koinuma (March 1969). 内務省ないむしょうにおける気象きしょう観測かんそくの開始かいしの経緯けいいと気象台きしょうだいの名称めいしょう (PDF) (in Japanese). Meteorological Society of Japan. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Access to JMA Headquarters". Japan Meteorological Agency. November 24, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020. JMA Headquarters moved on 24 November 2020.
  7. ^ a b 気象庁きしょうちょう庁舎ちょうしゃ移転いてん後ごの新あたらしい露ろ場じょうを選定せんてい (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Japan Meteorological Agency: The national meteorological service of Japan" (PDF). Japan Meteorological Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Cooperation through WMO and Other Multilateral Activities". Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  10. ^ Japan Meteorological Organization (February 2001). "Annual Report on Activities of the RSMC Tokyo – Typhoon Center 2000" (PDF). Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  11. ^ RSMC Tokyo – Typhoon Center
  12. ^ a b "Table of Observation Stations" (PDF). The Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion (of Japan). September 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  13. ^ Jochen Zschau; Andreas N. Küppers, eds. (2002). Early Warning Systems for Natural Disaster Reduction. Springer. p. 449. ISBN 978-3-540-67962-2.
  14. ^ Corkill, Edan (April 10, 2011). "Japan's seismic nerve center". Japan Times. p. 7. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  15. ^ "Organizations with ties to CCEP". CCEP. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
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