Typhoons land on Japan every year, and many people often die or go missing. Indeed, typhoons are more vicious than earthquakes, except for really large-scale quakes like the one that struck Kobe in 1995 and killed some 6,000 people.

Last year, of the 29 reported typhoons spawned in Western Pacific, 10 hit Japan. Typhoons and cloudbursts caused more than 230 deaths or missing-person cases, nearly 100 as a result of Typhoon No. 23 alone. In the past 30 years, an average 26.7 typhoons have been generated each year, with a 2.6 of them, on average, striking Japan.

Fifteen typhoons have formed so far this year. Typhoon No. 14 (named "Nabi"), which assailed Japan for three days, left 28 people dead or missing in its wake. It was the strongest since Typhoon No. 13 in 1993. Compared with Hurricane Katrina in the United States, the damage from Typhoon No. 14 was small, but there is no predicting that a typhoon with the same destructive power as Katrina won't strike Japan.