Feature: Historical Weather Data Revisited.The Erwin Knipping Project of the German Society for Natural and Ethnological Studies of East Asia.

The Erwin Knipping Project of the German Society for Natural and Ethnological Studies of East Asia (OAG) in Tokyo is dedicated to the handwritten weather records of Erwin Knipping (1844–1922). Knipping, a member of the OAG and a pioneer of early meteorology in Japan, documented the weather between 1872 and 1878. Founded in 1873 by German merchants, scientists, and diplomats, the OAG conducts research on East Asia, particularly Japan, and shares its knowledge through lectures, publications, and cultural events. The Society’s publishing activities began in 1873, and its library comprises over 6,500 works in German and English. The OAG published Knipping’s weather data in its former Mitteilungen, now known as the OAG Notizen newsletter (OAG Notizen), in which this three-part series was originally published in German. Published ten times a year, the newsletter contains a feature article, reviews, editorials, association news, and announcements of upcoming events. Editor: Dr. Maike Roeder, © OAG Tokyo ISSN 1343-408X.
 
The project gained momentum in 2024 when Maike Roeder drew attention to Knipping’s previously overlooked climate data during an OAG study trip. The data had been lying dormant in the archives. "Couldn't we do something with this?" she asked. As climate researchers passionate about historical research and data analysis, we were immediately enthusiastic. A year later, we began analyzing the records. Our Norwegian students supported us as part of the seven-week course on scientific methods. The result is a publication that makes the dataset digitally accessible to both the scientific community and the general public.
Part I of the publication introduces Erwin Knipping. Over the years, he observed the weather in Japan using the instruments available at the time and meticulously documented methods and units, as well as measurement inaccuracies. Part II examines the current use of historical weather data, the impact of climate change on Tokyo, and projections through the year 2100. Part III demonstrates how modern data science can make historical datasets like Knipping's accessible to humans and algorithms alike.

I Knipping and the Japanese Climate, ▶ Notizen 2601, 01/2026,
II Knipping’s Data and Climate Change in Tokyo, ▶ Notizen 2603, 03/2026,
III How digitized Data carries Knowledge through Time, ▶ Notizen 202605, 05/2026.