The Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, is at the forefront of Japan's fight against flooding as extreme weather threatens the country's infrastructure. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

Japan battles flooding amid deepening climate crisis

Rising rainfall and frequent typhoons test the archipelago's flood defenses

KAZUNARI HANAWA, Nikkei climate change editor, and WATARU SUZUKI, Nikkei staff writer

June 8, 2022 06:08 JST

TOKYO -- In October 2019, Typhoon Hagibis made landfall on the Japanese coast near Tokyo, with winds of over 195 kph and waves as high as three-story buildings. The largest typhoon to hit Japan since records began, it slashed through towns and inundated low-lying coastal areas.