Papers

• Characteristics of rainfall variability and the abnormal condition in the dry year in Java based on the 1901-1916 Indonesian rainfall data Masumi Zaiki Seikei University

  We have cooperated and digitized precipitation data from Indonesian historical records. In this presentation, firstly, seasonal rainfall characteristics and monsoon variability are discussed based on the digitized rainfall data for 1901-1916. Several characteristics in the timing of the monsoon peak season and the seasonal progression of monsoon rainfall are detected. Then, this presentation also examines the abnormal rainfall in Java from 1901 to 1916, in order to provide the data to reexamine the urban history of colonial Java from a climatological point of view. An analysis of the NOAA 20th century reanalysis SLP data shows that the driest year 1905 from 1901 to 1916 in Java may have been caused by weaker low-pressure system than the normal in the area.

• Climate on Naval Battle: Dutch logbook as historical material Togo Tsukahara Kobe University

  My presentation is not exactly about abnormal climate nor urban disaster per se. But I discuss about weather observation at naval battle in South East Asian water, and try to relate navy activities with climate and disaster studies. My historical material is Dutch Naval Logbooks, that recorded all kinds of information about sailings, hence weather where they sailed. A forced analogy would be that war is the most abnormal “social” climate, and nothing but disaster of both natural and social, and all the navy ship has its homeporting that are mostly urban where logbook recording started.
  At Nationaal Archief in the Hague, I have discovered a number of logbooks of Dutch Navy in 2018. Primarily, I worked on weather condition at Shimonoseki War (1863) when four Dutch Navy ships joined Four Nations Fleet against the Japanese. In 2019, I noticed one picture, that depicts on of the Dutch ship, Medusa, has joined Ache War (1873-).
  In my perspective, climate data recorded in the Dutch Naval logbooks would emcompass wider area of history, not limited to nation-state nor social boundaries, geographically both urban/ rural and on the sea, war-time emergency and piece-time routine/normalcy. I wish my examination of the logbooks of the Dutch Navy would in some ways be contributing to explore historical and climatological study.

• Climatology and interannual variability in rainfall in the Philippines from the late 19th century to the early 20th century Ikumi Akasaka Senshu Univ.

  In the Philippines, the meteorological observations were taken by Spanish Jesuits for the late 19th century and then by the U.S. administration for the early 20th century. To clarify the longer-term variability in rainfall in the Philippines and its causes, we have collected the historical meteorological records from the late 19th century to the early 20th century and, digitized them under the data rescue projects in Japan. By using these records, we will show climatology and interannual variability in rainfall characteristics, including frequencies of heavy rainfalls and droughts, especially at Manila since 1865.

• Flood and disease: Malaria in Jakarta in the 1910s Atsushi Ota Keio University

  An extensive government survey of malaria in Jakarta in 1917 concluded that the malaria most severely affected the coastal districts where a number of fishponds contained large amounts of stagnant water, which bred larvae of mosquitos. However, a survey of a series of tropical diseases in Jakarta in 1912 indicated the most malaria-affected area slightly inland close to swamps. These swamps are also included in one of the most frequently flood-hit areas, as indicated in the map of 1913. Considering these things, the flood water around the swamp area seems to have played an important role in the spread of malaria in Jakarta spread. Examining the rainfall pattern observed at the Meteorological Observatory in Batavia, this paper examines the relation between the rainfall pattern and the malaria breaks in the 1910s.

Abstract