Floods in Japan by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Oct 25, 1910

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 42.

Floods in Japan

By Editor

We have already referred to floods in Japan, especially in Tokyo and vicinity. A letter from Pastor F. W. Field informs us that neither our native people nor mission workers or property suffered from the flood. Our sanitarium is on higher ground than the flooded districts, a wise precaution in building. He is grateful for the responses to the appeal for a church building in Tokyo. From his letter we gather the following interesting facts concerning the floods in Japan:

Flood in Mikawajima, east suburb of Tokyo

"The floods in Japan are said to have been the most serious that the country ever suffered within the memory of the oldest inhabitants. About six miles of the railway between Tokyo and Yokohama was under water for several days, interrupting traffic. In other places the earth has been washed away from beneath the railroad ties, leaving the ties attached to the rails but with no foundation. In still other places stretches of the track have been washed clear out of place, and tipped up on edge over low embankments. Landslides in the mountains were also seen at various places along the route. Large areas of rice fields were flooded, and the crop more or less injured.

"Considerable loss of life and property is reported. The largest and best-known summer resort of foreign missionaries suffered severely. The Home Department of the Imperial Government reports the following: Number of dead, 1,058; injured, 238; missing, 383; houses destroyed, 1,443; bridges destroyed, 1,578; landslides, 901."

Effect of Flood in Temple Grounds, near Tokyo