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Long-term variations in precipitation during the major rainy periods in Japan--the Baiu (June-July) and Akisame (September-October) seasons--are investigated using precipitation records from 44 weather stations in western to eastern Japan over the past 120 years (1901 - 2020). The total amount of Baiu precipitation has increased over the 1901 - 2020 period, mainly during the mid-late stages of the season (late June-July) over regions on the Sea of Japan side of the country. Conversely, the precipitation amount during the Akisame season has decreased, mainly during the mid-stage (late September-early October) over all regions. The frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation have generally increased in both seasons, but the trends are much stronger for the Baiu season than for the Akisame season. A prominent positive trend, 23.5 % (100 yr)-1 (18.1 % °C-1), which is much higher than the Clausius-Clapeyron rate (approximately 7 % °C-1), is observed for the Sea of Japan side of western Japan for the seasonal maximum one-day precipitation total during the Baiu season. It may be noteworthy that the observed long-term trends differ greatly between the Baiu and Akisame seasons even though the statistical significances of the trends are not so high, because similar differences between the two rainy seasons are found in the results of global warming simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reviewed the long-term trends and inter-annual variations in the surface shortwave irradiance in China and Japan. Pyranometer observations revealed decreases followed by increases in the shortwave irradiance in China and Japan between the 1960s and 2000s, while obvious long-term trends were not evident in the satellite observations after 1983. In China, surface shortwave irradiance decreased from 1961 until around 1990, but then began to increase. In Japan, on the contrary, the decreasing trend stopped in the 1960s, with little inter-annual variation during the 1970s and 1980s, and an increase began around 1990. The causes of the differences between the shortwave irradiance trends in China and Japan were ascribed to an increase in light-absorbing aerosols in China that began in the 1960s and a decrease in absorbing aerosols in Japan that began in the late 1970s. Absorbing aerosols decrease both direct and diffuse radiation, while non-absorbing aerosols decrease direct radiation but increase diffuse radiation. Although these aerosol influences are generally found under clear sky conditions, absorbing aerosols could have direct effects even under cloudy sky conditions. The trends of surface shortwave irradiance in China and Japan are in line with the so-called global dimming and brightening dimming processes, although the phases of the minimum periods in the two regions slightly differed. An increase in anthropogenic aerosol was responsible for the variation in the shortwave irradiance through the direct radiative effect of aerosol in the polluted area, while indirect radiative effects, i.e., changes in cloud cover due to an increase in cloud condensation nuclei, dominated in pristine areas. The effects of other factors, such as variations in water vapor and natural aerosol levels, appear to be small compared to the effects of cloud and anthropogenic aerosols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]