Nerdy Travels: The Worst Typhoon in 25 Years

Our last full day in Osaka didn’t really go to plan. We were forced into an unintended rest day. This was the day that typhoon Jebi, the worst typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years, hit Osaka and we were right in the middle of it. Also a quick side note, about two days later Japan received another natural disaster of an earthquake in Hokkaido. I was thankful not to be affected by that. The idea of being in an earthquake terrifies me more than being in a typhoon honestly even though either are awful disasters. We’d seen a few notices dotting around Osaka the day before mentioning the typhoon and the closure of shops and trains as it was going to hit. When awaking in the morning it was still fairly calm outside. It starts off as overcast and dull but nothing looked too concerning. Just before I woke up I head this weird noise and I, in my sleepy state had no clue what it was. I thought it was a doorbell ringing or something because it was a really cute tune which played. Then when checking my phone I was met with an emergency alert which surprised me as I’d never received anything like that before. Unfortunately, at the time I couldn’t read it as it was all in Japanese and it wasn’t till later when I got a second alert that I was able to translate it. The second one I received was about basically calling off any need for going to any shelters.

As it was still clear out that morning we thought we would quickly go out and get breakfast and stock up on food before the typhoon hit. Across the street from us there was a small cafe which was in partnership with the apartment we were in. I had pancakes because I was on a serious pancake kick this trip. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Japan do incredible pancakes. As we ate in the cafe the weather slowly began to worsen and by the time we had finished eating it had started to rain. We rushed to Lawson’s around the corner and stocked up as we knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere else for the rest of the day.

I found a copy of Shounen Jump in Lawson. I flicked through it out of curiosity as I had never picked up a copy before. The magazine had the latest chapters for My Hero Academia, Gintama and Haikyuu and I was kind of freaking out and something in my heart was telling me to get it. Even if I couldn’t read any of it at least it would be a cool souvenir to decorate my bookshelf back home. It was insanely cheap too. It was only 270 yen and I know for a fact that for something that size over in England would cost at least £10.

As we shopped the rain gradually got worse as we hurried up and rushed back home. I spent the rest of the day eating junk food, watching the Japanese news which none of us could understand but watched to see what was happening anyway, and watching the typhoon unfold right outside the window. I also worked on one of my Ita bags too which is always a fun task to do.

The typhoon got crazier as the day went by. For a while I stood watching through the window at what was happening down the street. From our window we could see other houses around us with makeshift roofs which we beginning to come away from the rest of the structure and fly away. I watched as pieces of wood and other bits of debris tumbled down the street and the wind got so strong at one point I was concerned that maybe the window would just break. I didn’t see this but my parents witnessed something come into contact with some electrics and apparently it made sparks fly.

People were also still wandering around in the awful weather too. People were in cars and on bikes which was terrifying honestly. If any big pieces of debris had come down the street they could have been seriously hurt. It’s terrifying to think about.

Overall I cannot say that the typhoon was as horrifying as I always imagined it would be. If anything it was just kind of weird and surreal. When I’m at home and see natural disasters on the news they always pick out the worst of it all and plaster those parts everywhere as that’s what draws in views. The news makes it seems like everyone is suffering and it’s horrifying to witness on TV. I worried about my family was witnessing it on TV back home because it’s a scary thing to think about being in. I know that many people suffer terribly in these disasters and my heart goes out to everyone who was seriously effected by both the typhoon and earthquake. I was sat right in the middle of the worst typhoon in twenty five years and I’m thankful to say that I was fine. Coming from a country which doesn’t have major natural disasters it was a very surreal experience. It’s not something I ever imagined I would experience in my lifetime. Even now I’m not sure how I feel about it all because it was just very strange to be in but I’m thankful nothing happened to me and my family. I know for a fact that it’ll be a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Later in the day the typhoon started to ease off and it turned into a rainy night. We had makeshift cheese on toast for dinner which was great and we got some well needed rest. I even ended up taking a nap. I actually ended up having another sleepless night as I basically didn’t do much during the day so my body was raring to go. This wasn’t fun as the WiFi decided to go down us so I spent a few hours staring at the ceiling.

Until next time thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a great day!

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