Thread: How Japan prepares for Typhoons

As I write this, the rather strong typhoon 'Roke' is hitting Japan & the Tokyo metropolitan area hard. Huge water masses rain down on the most densly populated area of the globe with it's enviroment being dominated by concrete and streets.

To prevent the worst damage & suffering from flash floods and other threads the city did prepare itself.

I just saw these pictures of a massive infrastructure feat.
These are huge subterranean structures, build 50 meters (165 feet) below the city. Their purpose: to be flooded in this kind of event and pump the masses of water out to sea.






Crazy structure...

Yep, impressive structures. Living where they do - in earthquake-prone part of the world - the Japanese have to prepare as best they can for earthquakes, tsunami, typhoons. Bear in mind that these huge underground temporary water retention tanks also have to hold up to earthquakes. & I assume they have independent power generation equipment too, & probably some housing for workers to live on-site during an emergency.

It's admirable planning. With just a little work, those same structures could shield people against nuke fallout, most conventional weapons, bomb strikes.

This is the cool part...



Just joking, that is another cistern that is a lot older beneath Istanbul.

Originally Posted by hairballxavier

This is the cool part...



Just joking, that is another cistern that is a lot older beneath Istanbul.

Yah, I remember that scenery from an old Bond flick, From Russia with Love ... Connery lives!

So they don't commit seppuku for failing to obtain the last pack of batteries, sheet of plywood, or gallon of water at the local big box?

Originally Posted by Commodore

So they don't commit seppuku for failing to obtain the last pack of batteries, sheet of plywood, or gallon of water at the local big box?

Apparently Japan doesn't do big box stores. That's one of the US complaints - Walmart, Lowes, etc. all think they could severely undercut the schlerotic marketing nets in Japan & ring up a tidy dollar (yen?) But the Japanese zaibatsu have a stranglehold on their domestic political apparatus - it's all no can do.

Same for basic foodstuffs - rice, wheat, sorgum, beef - the small farmers are a critical segment of the political process, & Japan refuses to rationalize their small producers out of their domestic market/economics/politics.

I'm sure US politics are equally baffling to Japan. But @ least they've learned to play our game - they're hired PR 'droids & spokesthings, set up foundations, paid junkets for our politicos, sponsored scholarships for academics with the right things to say, set up slick glossy magazines, ...