Kanto’s Weather Woes

Kanto’s Autumn Blues

I write this with utter exasperation over the current state of the weather. Ordinarily, I would be setting off on a multi-day autumn adventure, but now it seems I’ll have to wait until later in the week for the autumn rain front, or akisame zensen, to abate. Typically, around this time of year, the high-pressure system over the Pacific weakens, and a cold high moves down from the Asian continent, ushering in akibare (clear autumn weather) and refreshing air to Kanto/Koshin. Alas, that’s not the case this year.

It feels like a lifetime ago, but I vividly recall my first autumn in Japan, around mid-October 2007, when I finally gave in to the cold and started using the tōyu (kerosene heater). Granted, this was in Fukushima, in a typically poorly insulated aparto, though not in a mountainous area. In contrast, since the official end of summer this year, I can count on one hand the number of days I’ve gone to bed without the floor fan on. At this rate, it might well be November—if not later—before I turn on the danbo (heating).

To say that this past summer and the start of autumn haven’t been kind to us hikers is an understatement. If we rewind to the end of August, Typhoon No. 10 crawled across the archipelago at a snail’s pace, unleashing misery in its wake, along with endless days of rain and clouds. Since then, we’ve barely seen anything resembling autumn weather. We’ve had the occasional hot, sunny day, but consecutive days of nice weather have been few and far between.

In the last couple of months, my only hiking accomplishments have been an early morning hike on September 15th up Takao-san in pea-soup humidity, a drizzly day hike to Mt. Sengenrei in Hinohara-mura and a blessed view from the summit of Mt. Kaikoma. I stress, though, that the only reason I caught that view was because I summited just after dawn—by midday, the mountain was completely cloaked in cloud and fog, as it had been the previous day when I hiked up to the campsite.

To give a snapshot of the current state of affairs, I’ll refer to the meticulously recorded morning temperatures posted by Shichijo-koya, which, as the name suggests, sits at the 7th Station (2,400 metres) on the Kuroto ridge leading to Kaikomagatake. Although I don’t have comparative data for previous years, the weather definitely seems warmer than usual. In September, the average overnight temperature was 12 degrees, with only four mornings dropping below 10. So far in October, the average has been 11 degrees, with just one night barely dipping below 10. From my past experience, camping at such elevations has been significantly colder by this time of year.

Are Japan’s current weather woes indicative of something more global? I’m hedging my bets that it’s largely the case. You’d have to be a dyed-in-the-wool climate sceptic to think otherwise. Let’s hope that, starting this weekend, the mountains around Kanto will finally embrace true autumn, allowing us to bid farewell to this dreary spell of gloom.