Typhoon season makes Japan and the Koreas ponder climate change
But Japan, in particular, is a climate laggard
SENSO-JI IN TOKYO, dedicated to the boddhisattva of compassion, is Earth’s most visited sacred site. Some 30m people a year pass through the temple’s imposing entrance, known as Kaminarimon, or Thunder Gate, flanked by Fujin, the god of wind, and his even fiercer brother, Raijin, the god of storms and rain. They are just one of countless reminders across North-East Asia that the natural calamities of downpours and floods (not to mention earthquakes and tsunamis) are deeply enshrined in the region’s collective psyche.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “The new weather gods”
From the September 12th 2020 edition
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