A Few Climiatological Observations

I don't know why I never conceptualized Japan as a windy place before. With the coming of "Spring" comes the gale-force winds that the Japanese are so used to. Yesterday was such a day.
The wind can be so bad that it makes bicycling impossible. Especially on the route that I take to the Jr. High, as I ride through the center of a rice field for over a mile with no wind cover. Luckily, yesterday was a Sunday and I could stay inside, where it's relatively safe. But, on the days when it's really howling, it's not uncommon to see 20 Jr. High kids walking their bikes huddled together, like some downtrodden penguins in an animal documentary.

Anyway, all this hardcore blowing *childish giggles* has really got me thinking about wind as a facet of Japanese identity. As an island country, Japan serves as a bit of a wind break for mainland Asia and gets all manner of natural disasters as a result. Good for Japan.

But, in a mostly positive sense, this wind has had incredible effects on Japanese culture and history. The Japanese word for wind is "kaze," as in "kami-kaze" (literally, something like "Divine/Holy Wind"). ...Maybe you know where I'm going with this.

Kamikaze first came into use as a term after both attempted Mongol invasions of Japan. Notice that I said "attempted." Apparently, as the Mongol ships were crossing the sea for Japanese soil and conquest (Oh, Ghengis Khan, you try-hard!), an incredible wind swept through the sea from Japan and dashed more than 1/2 of the Mongol ships to pieces in the sea. 1/4 returned to mainland Asia, and the 1/4 that landed in Japan were easily cut down by the Japanese army. This "Holy wind" was touted as proof that Japan was superior to the mainland Asians and that the divinities supported their national division from Asia.

The second time the Mongols tried to invade, bizarrely, just about the same thing happened. To the nationalist ruling class, it was enough proof to cement Japan's identity and give them a superiority complex.

Though, I'll pause for a second, only to ask you to think about how remarkable that is. Name any other nation that was able to turn away the Mongols twice, or even once. They even sacked Baghdad, for Christ's sake, when it was the capital of the Islamic Empire at close to the height of it's power.
Obviously, the cultural myth of the kamikaze was tapped for other more recent military actions that I don't really need to get into. Suffice to say that the cultural importance of kaze is still affecting Japan in lots of important ways.

Anyway, you get the point; it's really windy here.