Some years ago, for professional reasons, I was outside in the wilds of Wakayama Prefecture as a strong typhoon moved overhead in order to observe someone else professionally document a strong typhoon as it moved overhead.
This professional — identified by the fact that he had a helmet and high-grade video equipment (as opposed to my Uniqlo windbreaker and notepad) — makes his living documenting nature’s violent outbursts.
I make my living, generally speaking, at a desk in my home office in the Tokyo suburbs, where the most significant risk to my well-being on an average day is Cheetos. But on this particular day in 2018, I was out on a limb just as Typhoon Jebi was, in the words of the professional, James Reynolds, turning a bit “squirrelly,” debris flying toward us and all.
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