Weather Signs. Traditional meteorological knowledge in Japanese small-scale fisheries.

This book explores local meteorological knowledge (kantenbōki) in contemporary Japanese fishing communities, examining how weather is perceived, interpreted, and enacted through embodied, sensory, and relational practices. Based on long-term ethnographic research in coastal and insular regions, the study analyzes vernacular forecasting systems grounded in observation of winds, clouds, currents, landscapes, and seasonal rhythms. It situates these practices within broader debates in environmental anthropology, ethnometeorology, and risk studies, showing how local knowledge operates alongside scientific forecasting and mass-mediated weather information. By foregrounding fishermen’s experiential engagement with atmospheric phenomena, the book challenges dichotomies between traditional and scientific knowledge and contributes to understanding climate change as a lived and culturally mediated process.