Cruising Japan

 



For those interested in cruising Japan, there are many resources available on the Web.

We decided not to reinvent the wheel as far as providing in-depth cruising information but you may find the following links useful : 

• Sailing To Japan : Information gathered by yachts that have been to or are in Japan.  Website includes links to many of these yachts' blog or home page.  

• Sail Japan : We are not sure if this page is being updated but may still be useful

• Tidal and Tidal Stream Info : As well as tide times for specific places, we found the tab with Tidal Stream Predictions to be particularly useful for cruising in Seto Naikai, the Inland Sea, including Kanmon Kaikyo, the strait between the islands of Kyushu and Honshu.  You can change the date and time to predict what the streams will be doing at certain times and then choose the right time to leave or arrive at various locations.  In some areas the streams are particularly fast!  Some sections are in Japanese but you should be able to work out what the various boxes are for or else use a translator.

• Kanmon Tides : has stream predictons for Kanmon Kaikyo only.

• The Quick Bulletin of Ocean Conditions : Has bulletins of the current state of the Kuroshio Current and also water temperatures.  It issues a new bulletin every day except for weekends.

The weather situation was never far from our minds the whole time in Japan, summer and winter, and we used several resources to try and get a good picture of what was happening and what could be expected!

• Japan Meteorology Agency : Includes all the usual info: marine forecasts, marine warnings, satellite pics, etc.  We found that the weather map on the English website was good for an overall pic of a large area but tended to use the Japanese weather map to get a better 'close up' view.

• The JMA did not usually publish typhoon warnings until the typhoons were in the Japanese area of responsibility.  We liked to check the following sites specifically for the development of significant tropical weather.

• Graphical Satellite Analysis : produced by Typhoon 2000 and Meteomedia.  Gives a good graphical view at a glance of the Western Pacific region and what may be brewing.

• Joint Typhoon Warning Center : Has advisories on any significant tropical weather in the world and satellite pics.

• The Bushmans Typhoon Blog : Website out of Taiwan; gives regular updates on any named system in the area with information gathered from several different weather sites.  Usually includes links to show track forecasts, etc. 

• Typhoon 2000 : The Philippines website on active tropical cyclones.  There are links to subscribe to email alerts for either just the Philippines or for the Asia Pacific area.  Choose the latter for cruising beyond the Philippines Area of Responsibility.  There is also a link to subscribe to mobile phone alerts while in the Philippines only, with instructions for each mobile phone carrier.

• Other websites for wind prediction such as Buoy Weather, Passage Weather, and Windfinder.

• And...we must include Wunderground as it gives a good overall picture of the place you are at.  While sitting out a typhoon in Okinawa we were able to watch the barometer drop and then start to rise again on our laptop in our hotel room.  Plus... it has a tab at the top for Severe Weather with graphics of tracks and predictions, etc.

Although not extensive, this page is only intended to offer limited information.  If you would like to ask us any specific questions regarding our time in Japan please email us at svtweed@gmail.com

The *coordinates of all the places we stopped at are included in the blog for that place and also on the maps on the Tweed's Tracks tab - just click the marker for each place.
  
*Coordinates used at your own risk.  No responsibility will be taken for any damage caused by using coordinates included in this blog.