Japan Meteorological Agency

History

Meteorological organizations in Japan have their origins in the 1870s, when the first weather stations started being established in the country. One of these was the Tokyo Meteorological Observatory, which since 1956 has been known as the Japan Meteorological Agency. It was originally formed within the Survey Division of the Geography Bureau of the Home Ministry. 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. Its headquarters have also changed several times, and as of November 24, 2020, they are now located in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo.

Timeline

• 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.
• June 1875 – The original Tokyo Meteorological Observatory was formed within the Survey Division of the Geography Bureau of the Home Ministry.
• January 1, 1887 – The Tokyo Meteorological Observatory was renamed as the Central Meteorological Observatory, with the transfer of its jurisdiction to the Home Ministry.
• April 1895 – The Ministry of Education 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.
• November 1943 – The Ministry of Transport and Communications took over Central Meteorological Observatory operation.
• May 1945 – JMA became part of the Ministry of Transport.
• July 1, 1956 – The Central Meteorological Observatory became an agency of the Ministry of Transport, and has been renamed to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
• 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 with the Japanese government reformation.
• 2013 – It was announced that it would be scheduled to move the headquarters into Toranomon, Minato-ku.
• November 24, 2020 - JMA moved to its new headquarters in Toranomon, Minato-ku.

Services

Overview

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

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.

In 1968, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) designated the JMA as a Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for Asia. In June 1988, the WMO also assigned the JMA as a RSMC for the Northwestern Pacific under its Tropical Cyclone programme. 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.

Observation and forecast

Weather

Land weather

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

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

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

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.

Earthquakes

The JMA has 624 observation stations across Japan which are set up at intervals of 20 km approximately in order to measure the seismic intensity of earthquakes precisely. The agency also utilizes about 2,900 seismographs 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). 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.

Tsunamis

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

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

Headquarters

• JMA Headquarters
• Director-General
• Deputy Director-General
• Deputy Director-General for Disaster Mitigation
  • Administration Department
    • Counselors
  • Information Infrastructure Department
  • Atmosphere and Ocean Department
  • Seismology and Volcanology Department

Local offices

• Local Offices
  • 6 Regional Headquarters
    • Sapporo Regional Headquarters
      • 6 Local Meteorological Observatories
      • 1 Weather Station
      • 1 Aviation Weather Station
    • Sendai Regional Headquarters
      • 5 Local Meteorological Observatories
      • 1 Aviation Weather Station
    • Tokyo Regional Headquarters
      • 16 Local Meteorological Observatories
      • 3 Aviation Weather Service Centers
    • Osaka Regional Headquarters
      • 13 Local Meteorological Observatories
      • 1 Aviation Weather Service Center
    • Fukuoka Regional Headquarters
      • 7 Local Meteorological Observatories
      • 1 Weather Station
      • 1 Aviation Weather Service Center
    • Okinawa Regional Headquarters
      • 3 Local Meteorological Observatories
      • 1 Aviation Weather Station

Auxiliary organs

• Auxiliary Organs
  • Meteorological Research Institute
  • Meteorological Satellite Center
  • Aerological Observatory
  • Magnetic Observatory
  • Meteorological College

Directors-General and Chief Executives

Chief Executives of Central Meteorological Observatory

1. : 1890–1891
2. : 1891–1895
3. : 1895–1923
4. : 1923–1941
5. : 1941–1947
6. : 1947–1956

Directors-General of JMA

1. : 1956–1963
2. : 1963–1965
3. : 1965–1969
4. : 1969–1971
5. : 1971–1974
6. : 1974–1976
7. : 1976–1978
8. : 1978–1980
9. : 1980–1983
10. : 1983–1985
11. : 1985–1987
12. : 1987–1990
13. : 1990–1992
14. : 1992–1993
15. : 1993–1996
16. : 1996–1998
17. : 1998–2000
18. : 2000–2003
19. : 2003–2004
20. : 2004–2006
21. : 2006–2009
22. : 2009–2011
23. : 2011–2014
24. : 2014–2016
25. : 2016–2019
26. : 2019–2021
27. : 2021–present

References

References

1. link. Japan Meteorological Agency. (January 2011)
2. link. Japan Meteorological Agency. (2010-12-24)
3. link. Japan Meteorological Agency. (2011-12-24)
4. link. Kan'ichi Koinuma. Meteorological Society of Japan. (March 1969)
5. link. Japan Meteorological Agency. (September 2008)
6. "Gfdrr.org".
7. "Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)".
8. (24 November 2020). "Access to JMA Headquarters". Japan Meteorological Agency.
9. "Japan Meteorological Agency: The national meteorological service of Japan". Japan Meteorological Agency.
10. "Cooperation through WMO and Other Multilateral Activities". Japan Meteorological Agency.
11. Japan Meteorological Organization. (February 2001). "Annual Report on Activities of the RSMC Tokyo – Typhoon Center 2000".
12. {{URL. http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/jma-eng/jma-center/rsmc-hp-pub-eg/RSMC_HP.htm. RSMC Tokyo – Typhoon Center
13. (September 2011). "Table of Observation Stations". The Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion (of Japan).
14. (2002). "Early Warning Systems for Natural Disaster Reduction". [[Springer Science+Business Media.
15. Corkill, Edan. (2011-04-10). "Japan's seismic nerve center". [[Japan Times]].
16. "Organizations with ties to CCEP". CCEP.