1 dead, 3 missing after heavy rain hits central, eastern Japan

Friday 29th August, 02:57 PM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

Latest 15 of 28 Total Comments Show All

some14some at 02:44 PM JST - 29th August

One more proof that Meteorological Agency has its limitations, couldn't predict, couldn't warn.
Nessie at 02:45 PM JST - 29th August

'pseudoscience' is a widely accepted reality, and supported by a large consensus of the World's most respected climatologists, not to mention the scientific community as a whole

The point is that you can't generalize from one case, or even a dozen cases. Global warming is real. But not every severe storm is a product of global warming.
dennis0bauer at 03:04 PM JST - 29th August

Even here in aomori the rain was pouring! though the lightning was beautiful although a little too close!
R_M_s at 05:57 PM JST - 29th August

Global warming is most certainly not real. Average global temperatures have been decreasing in recent years. What is real is climate change. Global warming and climate change shouldn't be confused.

And as everyone else has pointed out, the rain was incredible. I've never experienced anything like that before, scary
keech2 at 06:21 PM JST - 29th August

Nessie,

Great posts as always.
Youdontknow at 07:13 PM JST - 29th August

Who said this is La Nina kicking in? Don't be so dumb! It's just your typical Japanese typhoon season saying hello!
cleo at 07:55 PM JST - 29th August

Aw nuts, typical unpleasant summer weather here in Japan.

Maybe your definition of 'typical' is different from mine. I've been here over thirty years and never experienced rain like we had last night.

It's just your typical Japanese typhoon season saying hello!

That was not a typhoon.

Got a roillin' light show in the sky again tonight. Hope things don't get as extreme as last night.
aedfed at 10:04 PM JST - 29th August

Japan Today has garbled the figures of the rainfall amounts. The 146 mm of rain fell between 1 and 2 a.m. Okazaki had 302.5 mm of rain in 24 hours. However, any way you look at it, that's a lot of rain.
blvtzpk at 11:04 PM JST - 29th August

Wonderful lightning storm up here in Tohoku. Magic!
TokyoGas at 11:31 PM JST - 29th August

Rumbling here in Ota-ku, Tokyo. Lots of flashes and some apartment shaking.
rjdsr at 01:09 AM JST - 30th August

Isn't it time for the government to be doing something about this weather?
OgieDoggie at 02:22 AM JST - 30th August

while a man fell unconscious in Ichinomiya -

Did anyone else see this in TJ's story. So what does a man falling unconscious have to do with the rain? Was he hit by a wall of water or hit by lighting and that made him unconscious (or was he coming home from a bar and got caught in the rain and passed out)?
OgieDoggie at 02:37 AM JST - 30th August

Isn't it time for the government to be doing something about this weather? - rjdsr

rjdsr - are you joking...if you think the weather is messed up now wait until the Government gets involved.

Bottom line Mother Nature will ALWAYS kick our butts when it comes to the weather.
888naff at 09:09 AM JST - 30th August

I was trying to get some perspective on the figures looking at average maximum rainfall rates. Not so easy to find figures worldwide. In the uk last year there was some flooding and the usual talk about backwater country, unprepared, etc. Looking at these figures for monthly rainfall during the floods: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/june2007/index.html then have to have simiar yearly/monthly amounts fall in a hour, then maybe that would be an issue for most places. yearly: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/secondary/students/bi_climate.html I wonder how this compares with rainfall amounts in Japan's history as being subjected to the elements, I wonder what Japan's capacity is for flood defences and water dispersal. I thought in some places they had spent quite a bit of money on that already. Alot of talk on the jtv recently about "guerilla" rainfall. They know because of recent climate change there will be more extreme weather like this to come but cannot predict when it will happen... just that sometimes it now will... maybe some more construction projects on the way to improve the defences.
Nessie at 01:48 PM JST - 30th August

Thanks, Keech.