Rain

Dispute over ‘guerrilla heavy rain’ ongoing

Yumiko Horie / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

There is an ongoing dispute among weatherpeople over the phrase “guerrilla heavy rain,” which finished in the 2008 top 10 list for buzzword of the year.

While some weather forecasting companies justify the use of term by saying it is an appropriate term that conjures an image of sudden torrential rain, others are opposed to using the word guerrilla because it is associated with warfare.

According to observers, it is unclear if the controversy will be settled before the 2009 rainy season.

In the summer of 2008, serious damage was caused by unexpected heavy rain in many areas across the nation.

The 2008 top 10 ranking for the buzzword of the year was given to a Tokyo-based private weather forecast company, Weathernews Inc., by U-Can Inc., an education company that sponsored the competition. Weathernews distributes news about sudden rain through cellular phone e-mails.

The company’s e-mail distribution service began last summer and attracted about 56,500 subscribers.

“The reaction we had was much larger than we expected,” a company official said.

According to the latest Kojien unabridged dictionary published in January, guerrilla is defined as: a small force that conducts unconventional warfare, throwing enemies into confusion through surprise attacks; or the combat style associated with such a force.”

The term is believed to have become popular because the word guerrilla is associated with a sudden attack, much like the sudden appearance of large, dark cumulonimbus clouds that cause heavy rain.

“The term clearly portrays the image [of unexpected torrential rain] to subscribers,” a Weathernews officials said.

Many newspapers also have used the term to report torrential rain.

However, Meteorological Agency Weather Information Office chief Tadashi Kikuchi objected to the use of the word.

“A government organization should not use a word that is associated with war,” he said.

Weather forecaster Daisuke Tashiro, formerly a presenter on NHK’s “Ohayo Nippon” TV program, wrote on his blog, “Is it appropriate to use terms [to describe phenomena] simply because they are easy to understand?”

In summer, the agency asked the Certified and Accredited Meteorologists of Japan to stop using the word guerrilla when describing weather.

According to observers, another expression, “unexpected heavy rain in places,” does not give people a powerful impression of a sudden rainstorm.

“It’s a truly troubling issue,” Kikuchi said.

Meanwhile, Hajime Kamei, former chief editor of Gendai-yogo No Kiso Chishiki (Basic Knowledge of Contemporary Terminology) and linguist, said we should not forget that some people are uncomfortable with the expression guerrilla heavy rain.

“But I think the term does a good job of explaining the phenomenon of sudden heavy rain. Perhaps Japan is too peaceful [of a country] to use such a term without controversy,” he said.