If you are planning to travel around Kyoto this week, you’ll be better off traveling by train. Trains are still running in most areas, but those driving cars are experiencing heavy traffic conditions due to flooded roads.

NOTE: Take caution wherever you go especially along steep mountainsides. Some landslides have been reported throughout the Kansai area.

Schools in Osaka are letting children out early today, while schools in Kyoto are still in session.

A warning over the loud speaker system here in Kyoto just came on a few minutes ago warning people that there will be heavy rain and high winds later on around 7pm as the typhoon begins to hit Kyoto.

Right now, current conditions in Kyoto are calm with little to no wind. It’s kinda like the calm before the storm.

Tsuyu is Japanese for rainy season. The rainy season is caused by cold northerly and warm southerly air masses that collide resulting in consistently bad weather for several weeks on end.

June is known for being rainier than other months.

Those wishing to travel inside Japan should be prepared for rainy, windy elements. Bring a raincoat if you have one. Don’t worry if you forget your umbrella from home. Umbrellas can be bought on almost every street corner for next to nothing. Convenient stores carry them for under ¥500. Some places sell the clear see-through umbrellas for just over a few hundred yen.

Don’t forget that typhoon season has also begun. They add a bit more rain to the rainy season!

This typhoon has been moving very slowly. First reports said the typhoon would reach the mainland of Japan yesterday, then it was changed to 3am this morning. But when it finally reached the Shikoku, it was 10am.

The typhoon has slowed down tremendously compared to when it was out over the ocean south of Okinawa. It is bringing lots of rain and wind.

Many areas near rivers and valleys are experiencing flooding. So far, there are no reports of mudslides, but the storm is expected to continue hitting the mainland of Japan for the next few days at the rate it is currently moving.

2 people have died so far from this typhoon; one is a surfer.

Rainy season is generally not the best time to visit Japan. However, rainy season in Japan does not mean that it rains every single day.

The rainy season is caused by the collision of cold northerly and warm southerly air masses resulting in relatively bad weather fronts for several weeks.

In most of Japan, the rainy season lasts from the beginning of June to mid July. However, Hokkaido is barely affected by the rainy season because of its northern position to the collision course of the northerly and southerly air masses.

Now that rainy season is officially over, tourists to Japan can visit the country, especially the Kansai area, with somewhat peace of mind they won’t run into bad rainy weather, unless you happen to come during a typhoon!

Always check the weather before you travel. For the Kansai region, go to KansaiConnect and get the latest most accurate weather provided by the Meteorological Agency of Japan in English.

Many people, if not most, have a cellular phone in Japan. For cellular phones to be out of service can easily happen if the area you are in loses electricity or the mountains come down to the sea. If that happens, NTT has created a way where you can notify your friends and family how you are doing even when phone lines are damaged or jammed.

Go to a green or grey payphone or you can even use your home phone, if you happen to be there when a disaster hits, and dial 171. Remember that, 171. After you have dialed the number choose “Record” or “Listen”. Then enter your phone number, if you are in the disaster area, or the number you wish to reach outside the disaster area starting with the prefix number first. Then confirm the number you entered by pressing the number 1 and then the pound button, #. Once again, 1 and then #.

If you happen to enter the incorrect number, hang the phone up and start again.

After you have recorded a message or listened to one, press 9# to end the call.