Who was Sakuhei Fujiwhara?

Sakuhei Fujiwhara was a prominent Japanese meteorologist who lived from 1884 to 1950. He is best known as the namesake of the Fujiwhara effect, which describes the interaction between two nearby cyclonic vortices. His notable family members include his nephew, novelist Jirō Nitta, and his grandnephew, mathematician Masahiko Fujiwara.

What we know

• Sakuhei Fujiwhara was a Japanese meteorologist who lived from October 29, 1884, to September 22, 1950. [1, 2]
• He became the namesake for the Fujiwhara effect, a phenomenon where two nearby cyclonic vortices move around each other. [2, 5]
• Fujiwhara initially described this binary interaction effect in a 1921 paper based on an earlier 1889 paper by a Japanese researcher. [5]
• Novelist Jirō Nitta is his nephew, and mathematician Masahiko Fujiwara is his grandnephew. [2]

Where to go next

• how it workedWhat is the Fujiwhara effect?
• whoWho is Jirō Nitta?
• the bigger pictureHow do scientific phenomena get named after people?
• whenWhat are key milestones in the history of meteorology?
• what followedHow did the Fujiwhara effect gain popularity in the United States?
• an unexpected connectionHow does a meteorological vortex effect connect to Japanese literature?Sakuhei Fujiwhara's nephew is Jirō Nitta, a well-known novelist, connecting atmospheric physics to literary history.

Sources

• [1]Sakuhei Fujiwhara (Wikidata Q1059342) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Sakuhei Fujiwhara · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Scientific phenomena named after people · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Timeline of meteorology · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Fujiwhara effect · CC BY-SA 4.0