Abstract
On September 11, 1937, a severe typhoon swept over Kansai District, Honshu, Japan, resulting in immense damage to its agriculture. The author who had an opportunity of inspecting the damage, especially that suffered by the rice crops in the fields of thatregion, studied the plant samples collected there in order to ascertain the precise manner in which the grains were injured. In the present paper he first describes the local differences in the degrees of damage suffered, his findings being based largely on data from the prefectural bulletins. These results are then discussed in the light of meteorology and geography. 1. In order to get a general idea of the distribution of the damage in the region affected, the estimated percentages of the damage to the crop were plotted on maps, as shown in the paper (Table 2, 3, Fig. 1, 2, 3). It will readily be seen from these maps that the more remote the locality from the sea coast the smaller the crop damage. 2. As to the relations between the rice crop damage and the meteorological and the geographical conditions of the regions concerned, the following conclusions were drawn:- (1) Energy development of the typhoon. The way in which this typhoon developed in fury, differed from those of its predecessors, in that while most typhoons that visited these districts in the past usually lost their energy in the course of their travel across the Island of Shikoku, the present one, on the contrary, gained in momentum as it crossed that Island (Table 4, Fig. 4). (2) Amount of rainfall, The amount of rainfall that accompanied the typhoon was very small. The wind, after veered to the South, increased in violence, and the sea water that it whipped up remained on the rice plants, unwashed by rain (Table 4, Fig. 5, 6). (3) Path of the typhoon. Topographically in the Banshu Plain, which lies to the right of the path of the typhoon, the wind velocity was especially high, blowing far into the rear of the plain (Fig. 4). (4) Briny wind. Owing to the fact that Harima Bay expands in width from off the Northern coast of Shikoku Island towards the coast of the Banshu Plain, the sea water rose high during the storm, with the result that the wind blowing in that direction carried large quantities of sea water and deposited it on the crop plants in the fields. (5) Tide height. For a time, the sea level on the coast of the Banshu Plain rose so high that the sea water which was whipped up, was sucked by the wind and this precipitated in immense quantities on the crop fields (Table 5, Fig. 7).
