THE CLIMATE OF JAPAN 39. 



1902. In Sendai and its environs, the cold is not so severe, but at 

 night tlie nocturnal cooling causes frequent chills, and those who are 

 not accustomed to the climate are liable to catch cold unless they 

 take proper precautions. In Tokyo and the neighbourhood the tem- 

 perature is not so low, though often it falls a few degrees below the 

 freezing point, but as raw northwesterly winds prevail, the cold is 

 rather keenly felt. 



Osaka, which has often been compared with Manchester on account 

 of its numerous factories, has much milder winters than Tokyo. Here 

 the temperature also falls a few degrees below the freezing point, but 

 the cold is not severe as high winds do not prevail there. The winter 

 in Kobe is still milder since a range of hills shelters the city from 

 the invading cold winds from the northwest. But Kyoto has the so- 

 called continental climate and cold is keenly felt during the whole 

 winter. 



In northern Kiushiu the winter temperature is somewhat similar 

 to that at Tokyo. However, gloomy weather with frequent snowfalls 

 prevails while Tokyo generally enjoys bright sunshine. But at 

 Nagasaki, which lies at the head of a small bay and is surrounded 

 on all sides by mountain ridges almost in its immediate neighbour- 

 hood, the temperature is much higher than at Fukuoka and Moji. 

 Due to its very sheltered position, Nagasaki is not influenced so much 

 by the chilly monsoon current from the Continent, though the city 

 lies on the direct route of the invading cold air. Here the absolute 

 minimum temperature ever observed is —5°. 6 C, which occurred on 

 January 14, 1915. In southern Japan the mean temperature is about 

 two degrees higher than in northern Kiushiu. 



At Kagoshima the winter is much milder owing to comparatively 

 high temperature and humidity. Here the hills are covered with a 

 luxuriant growth of camphor-trees. But often a spell of cold weather 

 is experienced when the monsoon bursts forth from the northwest 

 owing to an abnormal rise of the barometer on the Continent. 



The Eiukiu islands and Formosa have a semitropical climate, the 

 mean temperature in winter ranging from 15° C. in northern Eiukiu 

 to 20° in southern Formosa. These parts of the Japanese Empire 

 support a luxuriant plant growth. Even in the Okinawa island we 

 have a tropical flora luxuriantly growing. The betel-nuts giow to a 

 prodigious height. Mosquito nets are used throughout the whole year. 

 In the interior of Formosa the winter temperature falls rather low. 



