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Drawing on ethnography, historical sources, and vernacular environmental knowledge, this book examines how fishermen and coastal communities in Japan read winds, clouds, seas, animals, and celestial signs to anticipate change and manage risk. Centred on the vernacular forecasting framework known as kantenbōki, the study traces the entanglement of sensory perception, language, ritual, and labor in everyday engagements with atmosphere. Moving between micro-scale practices and broader climatic regimes, the book shows how local weather knowledge persists, adapts, and intertwines with modern meteorology, revealing weather as a relational, cultural, and ecological field rather than a mere physical backdrop.
“This is an ambitious scholarly endeavor, delving into the intricate relationship between the understanding of meteorological phenomena and the fishing practices prevalent within Japan's coastal communities and societies.” • Shingo Hamada, Osaka Shoin Women’s University
Giovanni Bulian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. His publications include Indigenous Weather Understanding in Japanese Fishing Communities (Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science, Oxford University Press, 2020) and, with Yasushi Nakano (eds.), Small-scale Fisheries in Japan: Environmental and Socio-cultural Perspectives (Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2018).
Dedication
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Notes on Transliteration and Translation
Introduction
Chapter 1. Weighing the Weather
Chapter 2. Meteorological Mosaics
Chapter 3. Floating Buddhas
Chapter 4. Weathered Wisdom
Chapter 5. Hear the Thunder Fish
References
Appendixes
Index