More Than Just a Weather Service: Japan’s Multifunctional Meteorological Agency

A scene from Jōsō, Ibaraki Prefecture, after the Kinugawa (right) burst through an embankment in September 2015. (Photo by Furukawa Takehiko.)

Weather measurement station at Mito Meteorological Office, Ibaraki Prefecture. (Photo by Furukawa Takehiko.)

An AMeDAS station for automated monitoring in Koshino, Fukui Prefecture. (Photo courtesy of JMA.)

JMA map showing current precipitation levels nationwide, based on weather radar and AMeDAS data.

A radiosonde for upper-air observation is carried aloft by balloon from a station on the island of Hachijōjima. (JMA)

An image from Himawari 8 showing a typhoon with a clearly defined eye. (JMA)

A grid covering the entire globe for use in numerical weather prediction. (JMA)