About Future Tempo

whoWho keeps this zine

Future Tempo started in the spring of 2021, when a group of weather enthusiasts in Osaka noticed that most English-language coverage of Japanese weather was either too brief or too technical. The Japan Meteorological Agency publishes excellent data, but reading it requires familiarity with Japanese and with the specific terminology the agency uses. We set out to translate that data into plain English without losing the detail that actually matters to someone planning a hike, a harvest, or a commute.

Edited by a small team based in Osaka, Japan.

howHouse rules of the zine

Publishes every weekday by 7:00 JST, no exceptions

All summaries written by a human who has read the underlying JMA data

Five distinct coverage areas, not a single catch-all feed

Typhoon updates every six hours during active storm periods

Historical context drawn from JMA records going back to the 1890s

No automated or AI-generated forecast text

Covers all 47 prefectures, including remote island chains

pickingHow we work

Future Tempo follows a single rule: every summary is written by a person who has read the underlying source data before typing a word. We use the Japan Meteorological Agency as our primary data source and link to the relevant JMA page in every forecast piece. When we reference historical records, we cite the specific dataset and the date range it covers.

We select stories based on what is actually happening in the atmosphere over Japan. We do not publish weather content for regions or events that are not supported by current JMA data. Items within each coverage area are ordered by geographic scope first, then by immediacy: a typhoon advisory takes precedence over a regional temperature note.

The summaries, headlines, and contextual analysis on this site are written by the Future Tempo editorial team. The underlying observation data and model output belong to the agencies that produce them. We are an independent editorial operation and have no commercial relationship with the JMA or any other data provider.

If a publisher or reader believes a figure is wrong or that a piece should be removed, please email editorial@future-tempo.com with the article title and the specific concern. We will check the claim against the source data and respond within two business days. Corrections are noted at the top of the relevant article with the date they were made.

where fromSources

Items are selected because they report on weather conditions, forecasts, or climate events relevant to Japan or closely connected global phenomena covered in the site's five rubrics.

Every card links directly to the original publisher's article; Future Tempo claims no authorship of the reporting and all editorial rights remain with the original publisher.

The whole publisher register ↗