The Storm Heading for Your Trip Has a Name. Nobody in Japan Will Use It.
To say Typhoon No. 12 in Japanese, say 台風12号 (taifū jūni-gō).
Back home a storm gets a name. Here, what you'll actually hear is a number.
台風12号
taifū jūni-gō
Typhoon No. 12
In this video
- 台風12号が近づいています。 taifū jūni-gō ga chikazuite imasu. Typhoon No. 12 is approaching.
- 台風12号に注意してください。 taifū jūni-gō ni chūi shite kudasai. Please watch out for Typhoon No. 12.
Kanji in this phrase
- 台風12号
- たいふうじゅうにごう
- 台風
- たいふう
Why this phrase
Japan does give typhoons names, but domestic forecasts number them in the order they form each year, so every phone alert, hotel notice and station announcement leads with 台風 plus a number. The name, if it shows up at all, is in brackets after it. One takeaway: when you hear 台風, the number right after it is the storm they mean.
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