Weather Forecasting, Japan Style

Take a look at this weather forecast…

This is weather forecasting, Japan style. You may have noticed it’s a little different. You’re probably wondering what are those strange pink ‘clouds’??

Well, get ready for it, this is what’s called the ‘Laundry Index’. It’s for all those hard-working people around the country who need to know on which day their laundry will dry the quickest, so they don’t come home to a clothes line full of half-soaked clothes.

And yes, I know you’re not silly, those pink things are not actually clouds, but T-shirts – cute, pink T-shirts. One T-shirt means there’s a less than 30% chance of your clothes drying outside… so, it’s best to either hang your laundry inside, or just put it off for another day. On the other end of the scale, five T-shirts mean it’s gonna be a beautiful day, so there’s a 90~100% chance of even thick clothes like jeans drying thoroughly!

Here’s a closer look at Tokyo’s forecast for today. At the top is the index for Monday (today) and Tuesday (tomorrow), then underneath is the rest of the week until Sunday.

Damn, looks like I should have done my laundry today. Oops!

Aside from the Laundry Index, weather sites also report on other necessary indexes.

For example, there’s the Going Out Index, which tells you if the day’s conditions are suitable or not for going out and about. This time it’s a cute yellow hat, with red ribbon. If you hadn’t caught on by now, this website is really aimed at females. I love the advice on this one… five hats means 一日いい天気、どこでもGO!  = It’ll be beautiful weather, so GO ANYWHERE!

There’s the Clothing Index. Hmm, do I need long-sleeves today, or is a T-shirt OK??

There’s the Car Washing Index. How quickly will my car dry after I wash it????
This is a serious one.

And finally, this one I swear you would not be able to find in any country other than Japan… the Beer Index. On what day will I best enjoy my beer? On a one-beer day, it’s gonna taste pretty average. On a three-beer day, it’s gonna taste gooooood. On a five-beer day, it’s gonna blow my mind!

Looks like everyday is a good beer day. Yes! :-)

These images were taken from tenki.jp