10 Facts About Sakuhei Fujiwhara

Sakuhei Fujiwhara was a Japanese meteorologist who became the namesake for the Fujiwhara effect.

Sakuhei Fujiwhara was close friends with Shigeo Iwanami, who would go on to found the Iwanami Shoten Publishing company.

Sakuhei Fujiwhara joined the Central Meteorological Observatory in 1909 after completing undergraduate studies in theoretical physics at Tokyo Imperial University.

Sakuhei 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.

Sakuhei Fujiwhara traveled to Norway in the same year to study meteorology under Vilhelm Bjerknes.

Sakuhei Fujiwhara joined the Central Institution for the Training of Meteorologists as general director after returning to Japan in 1922.

Sakuhei Fujiwhara 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.

Sakuhei 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.

Sakuhei Fujiwhara 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.

Sakuhei Fujiwhara spearheaded the study of gliders in Japan, and became a member of the Japan Academy in 1937.