Sakuhei Fujiwhara

Sakuhei Fujiwhara
Sakuhei Fujiwhara
	Taken in September 1949
Born	October 29, 1884; Suwa, Nagano, Japan
Died	September 22, 1950 (aged 65)
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University
Known for	Fujiwhara effect
Awards	Japan Academy Prize (1920)
	Scientific career
Fields	Meteorology
Japanese name
Kanji	藤原咲平
Romanization
Transcriptions
Romanization	Fujiwara Sakuhei

Sakuhei Fujiwhara^{[nb 1]} (藤原咲平, Fujiwara Sakuhei, October 29, 1884 – September 22, 1950) was a Japanese meteorologist who became the namesake for the Fujiwhara effect. Novelist Jirō Nitta is his nephew and mathematician Masahiko Fujiwara is his grandnephew.

Biography

Early life

Born in the city of Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Fujiwhara received his primary education at Takashima Common Elementary School and Suwa Higher Elementary School, where he was in the same class as future army general, Tetsuzan Nagata. He was also close friends with Shigeo Iwanami, who would go on to found the Iwanami Shoten Publishing company. He joined the Central Meteorological Observatory (current Japan Meteorological Agency) in 1909 after completing undergraduate studies in theoretical physics at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo).

Academic career

Fujiwhara earned his doctorate in 1915 through his research work on the abnormal propagation of sound waves, and earned the Japan Academy Prize in 1920 in recognition of his research. He traveled to Norway in the same year to study meteorology under Vilhelm Bjerknes.

He joined the Central Institution for the Training of Meteorologists (current Meteorological College of Japan) as general director after returning to Japan in 1922. He started his tenure as a professor at Tokyo Imperial University in 1924, and succeeded Takematsu Okada as the fifth director of the Japan Meteorological Agency in 1941.

Later life

Fujiwhara participated in the development of the fire balloon during the Pacific War, and was purged from his position after the conclusion of the war. He retreated to the countryside afterwards to concentrate on his writing, and devoted his efforts to educating the future generation of meteorologists and researching meteorological phenomena such as vortices, clouds and atmospheric optics. He also spearheaded the study of gliders in Japan, and became a member of the Japan Academy in 1937.

Texts

Kumo wo Tsukamu Hanashi (雲を掴む話, lit. "Grasping Clouds"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing, 1926
Kumo (雲, lit. "Clouds"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing, 1929
Kishō to Jinsei (気象と人生, lit. "Meteorology and life"), 1932
Chika, Chiretsu to Jishin (地渦・地裂及び地震, lit. "Subduction, faults and earthquakes"), 1932
Taikichū no Kōshō (大気中の光象, lit. "Atmospheric optics"), 1933
Kishō to Jinsei (氣象と人生, lit. "Meteorology and life"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing, 1935
Tenbun ya Kishō no Hanashi (天文や氣象の話, lit. "On Weather and Meteorology"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing, 1935
Uzumaki no Jikken (渦巻の実験, lit. "Experiments on vortices"), 1939
Kishō Kanshoku (気象感触, lit. "Sentiments on meteorology"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing, 1942
Umi no Nayami (生みの悩み, lit. "The anguish of childbirth"), 1947
Reki to Seikatsu (暦と生活, lit. "Life and the calendar"), Sanseido, 1948
Kishō Nōto (気象ノート, lit. "Notes on meteorology"), 1948
Terada Torahiko Shū (寺田寅彦集, lit. "Collected works of Torahiko Terada"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing, 1949
Gunka – Kishō Yonjūnen (群渦 – 気象四十年, lit. "Multiple vortices – 40 years of meteorology"), 1950
Nippon Kishōgaku Shi (日本気象学史, lit. "History of meteorology in Japan"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing, 1951
Reki to Seikatsu (暦と生活, lit. "Life and the calendar"), Sanseido, 1955
Chika Nitsuite (地渦について, lit. "About subduction"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing
Taiki Butsurigaku (大気物理学, lit. "Atmospheric physics"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing
Kishō Kōgaku (気象光学, lit. "Atmospheric optics"), Iwanami Shoten Publishing

Notes

^ He preferred to spell his surname as Fujiwhara, which is unusual by modern standards: Hepburn romanization (Fujihara or Fujiwara) is more common after World War II. Japanese texts give the furigana for his name as either Fujihara, Fujiwara, or both.