Muroto Typhoon Strikes Japan

Date: September 21, 1934 • Location: Tokyo, Japan

The Muroto typhoon, the strongest in Japanese history at the time, made landfall on the mainland, killing more than 3,000 and leaving around 200,000 homeless.

In September 1934, a violent typhoon caused tremendous devastation in Japan, leaving more than 3,000 people dead in its wake. Dubbed the Muroto typhoon , the system was first identified on September 13 over the western Federated States of Micronesia. Moving generally northwest, it eventually brushed the Ryukyu Islands on September 20. Turning northeast, the typhoon accelerated and struck Shikoku and southern Honshu the following morning. It made landfalls in Muroto, Kaifu, Awaji Island, and Kobe. A pressure of 911.9 hPa (26.93 inHg) was observed in Muroto, making the typhoon the strongest ever recorded to impact Japan at the time. This value was also the lowest land-based pressure reading in the world on record at the time; however, it was surpassed the following year during the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. After clearing Japan, the now extratropical storm traveled east and weakened. Turning north by September 24, the system deepened and impacted the Aleutian Islands; it was last noted the following day over western Alaska.