This summer in Japan, there are more places with maximum temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, and some areas are experiencing water shortages due to low rainfall.
The highlight is the Bon dance.
Bon dance is a traditional Japanese dance that honors ancestors.
I was unable to see the Bon dance due to timing issues, but an environmentally friendly “uchimizu” (water sprinkling) event was held as the opening event.
Uchimizu is a phenomenon that makes you feel cool by utilizing the principle of “evaporative heat,” which absorbs heat from the surrounding area as water evaporates.
Basically, the weather here in Indonesia is sunny and the temperature is milder than what we have experienced in Tokyo last month. My hometown is located on the mountainous area, so the weather is around 22-27 deg C. Actually, my hometown should experience colder temperature because the monsoon wind blows the cold weather from Australia to Indonesia (usually around 18-22 deg C). Unfortunately, there are several conditions (maybe it’s part of global warming) that make the probability slightly lower than usual.
‘Uchimizu’ also being used in Indonesia, but we don’t have specific term about that. We use it to make the surronding areas a little bit colder and to prevent dust flying around.
I don’t know Fukuoka experiences hotter summer than Tokyo. But some backpackers on social media told a story that Fukuoka experiences colder winter than Tokyo and Osaka.
Yes, the water sprinkling is common, especially in the villages that have many dirt roads. But sometimes it is not just sprinkling, but pouring so much water
Ah, so that’s why Fukuoka experiences colder winter. Thank you so much for your explanation.
So do I. Initially, I think closer to the equator (like Fukuoka compared to Tokyo) make the place became warmer. I just learn about an animation about Prevailing Winds from Wikipedia about this winds.
@ALG87
There are other examples that contradict the image of Kyushu being warm because it is close to the equator.
Kumamoto City is located 100 km south of Fukuoka City.
It has the cold weather typical of inland areas.
Another 100 km south is Isa City.
Here, the cold weather typical of inland areas becomes even more severe, with temperatures dropping below freezing in the winter mornings.
It might be interesting to look for places that are close to the equator but have low temperatures (excluding high-altitude areas).
Thank you for sharing your experience with the community. Please be advised that I will merge your topic with your previous one as they are very similar.
Wow, I thought that if the cold air passes Fukuoka to inland area (let’s say Kumamoto and Isa), it would become warmer. But I was wrong. It usually happens in Indonesia, while cold air come from Australia to the island of Java and heading to the island of Sumatera, the air become warmer and major cities in eastern Sumatera don’t have colder air experience like what happened in Java.
Talking about Kumamoto, I saw on X that a major flooding happened in Kumamoto several days ago. I thought that was insane to have weather changing from hot summer to pouring rain. I hope you are safe.
