Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2010

As mainland Japan braces itself for typhoon season, we cast our eye back on the most notorious storms in the country’s history…

Courtesy of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Name: “Vera” (a.k.a. “Isewan”)
Date: September 26, 1959
Worst hit: Nagoya area
Casualties: Over 5,000 dead or missing, 39,000 injured

Name: “Kathleen”
Date: September 14-16, 1947
Worst hit: Kanto
Casualties: Approx 1,900 dead or missing, 1,500 injured

Name: “Makurazaki”
Date: September 17, 1945
Worst hit: Hiroshima area
Casualties: Over 3,750 dead or missing, 2,450 injured

Name: “Muroto”
Date: September 21, 1934
Worst hit: Kansai
Casualties: Approx 3,000 dead or missing, 15,000 injured

Name: “Tokyo-An”
Date: September 24, 1917
Worst hit: Kanto
Casualties: Approx 3,000 dead or missing

Name: “Seabolt”
Date: September 17, 1828
Worst hit: Kyushu
Casualties: Around 10,000 dead in Saga domain alone

Name: “Koan no Eki”
Date: August 15-16, 1281
Worst hit: Western Japan
Casualties: 100,000 of 140,000 men in an invading Mongol fleet

Name: “Eiso”
Date: August 13, 989
Worst hit: Central Japan
Casualties: No figures available; worst typhoon of the Heian period