Yes, but it’s not the norm. Taiwan 90% of an ordinary year is a lot hotter than Japan. Also, Taiwan has had heat waves also. Japan just gets a lot more global coverage because…well, it’s Japan. And global mainstream media doesn’t really know/care about Taiwan.
People that are dying in the heat waves are mostly deaths that can be prevented. Drink lots and lots of water, avoid peak hours in the sun and keep on the AC. A lot of older people or children don’t take these measures and get caught by surprise. It’s tragic but avoidable.
Don’t be panicking, you and and your family will be just fine. You’re going to Japan not the Sahara desert.
Dunno. One thing my Japanese friend who is disabled noticed is that people in Taiwan are more helpful and accepting of people with special needs. People here are not ostracized for needing to use the special seats on the bus or metro, nor do they feel embarrassed/humilliated if they do have to use those seats/ask for assistance. Moreover, as a foreigner, people are more aware he needs assistance and will be even more willing to help if OP gets in a pickle.
Attendants at trains, metro and even bus drivers are aware that someone with a white cane needs help and will accomodate. If push comes to shove, taxi service is not outrageously expensive like in Japan, so OP can use that frequently. Heck, he can book a monthly pick up service if he needs to, with what he would normally spend in Japan.
Now, crossing teh road, even those of us that sort of see more or less well have been run over…several times. In his case I’d use a white cane…agggressively, both as a warning and as a weapon against scooters. Crossroads are a nightmare for all, that si for sure, i do not see any way to sugar coat it. I’d stick to crossing the roads as infrequently as possible and if you have to cross the road, grab an amah. They seem to make it to the other side most of the time, even against traffic lights.
Please don’t give the OP false information. Winters in Taiwan, especially in the North (Taipei), suck donkey balls. The apartments have no insulation, have no heat and you have to use space heaters to heat your home. During the winter, it’s colder inside that outside. You’d probably be warmer pitching a tent outside and sleeping in a sleeping bag,
Plus the pollution in the winter is horrible. Homegrown pollution plus pollution and dust blown in from China makes the winters in Taipei miserable.
Maybe winters are warmer in other parts of the Island (like the the south part ). You might want to clarify where you live, because again winters in Taipei absolutely suck.
Winters in the north aren’t nearly as cold as they used to be. I’d actually prefer it to be colder. It can get pretty damp though, and the pollution, like @nonredneck said, is horrible.
Arsewallop. Winters get colderer and colderer every year.
Actually I think it may depend on how you judge them. In recent years we’ve had very nasty bouts of very cold weather in Jan/Feb but also longer warm periods.
I read most of the thread, and I see a lot of overreactions. Taoyuan is not the ideal place, maybe it sucks but it is a good decision to move there if you get a teaching job. With the teaching salary + the loan I am assuming you get at least 80,000 NTD a month, which is very comfortable.
Don’t get confused by the comparison of heat between Japan and Taiwan, it does not work like that Japan is much drier compared to Taiwan, between June to September (even October actually) the weather is very uncomfortable here due to high humidity, so you will use the air condition a lot. Thats what we all do, you will be fine!
Nothing an ice cream and AC won’t solve. I spoke to some of my friends living in Tokyo right now and they don’t really care about the heat. Asian countries are usually insufferable during the summer anyways so one or two degrees shift in temperature isn’t that much to deal with.
People still get on with life. There’s probably a few joggers right now out and about in Tokyo. Though it’s not advised, I have seen such things before at temperatures of 37/38 degrees. Problem is I think the body overheats above 40 degrees, but so long as one stays hydrated all will be well.
One thing that is important to differentiate between is the reported temperature and the feeling temperature.
For example:
"The air temperature reads 85˚F (29˚C), but there’s zero humidity, the temperature will actually feel like it’s 78˚F (26 ˚C).
If the air temperature reads 85˚F (29˚C), with 80 percent humidity, it will actually feel like 97˚F (36˚C)."
Taiwan is the latter. It always feels like being in a oven.
What an ignorant thing to say. The past weeks in Japan have been way hotter than any day in Kaohsiung this year. They’ve had >38C in Kyoto for 7 days in a row, which is unprecedented since they started recording in 19th century. The record of >38C in Taipei is 3 days.
They were reporting >45 feeling temperature last week.
The main issue is that they are not used to this kind of heat. They may be used to 30 or 32 tops, then someone cranks it up to 38 or higher for several weeks… ain’t gonmna go well.
Which is what worrie sme, as each summer is getting hotter and hotter. In teh ol country they are seeing temperatures of 33 and 35 in places that had 26 tops. You can say, oh well, Arizona is 40, big deal. Yeah, and India was close to 50, wasn’t it? There is unbearable heat in places it was not. That is a big problem. Heat waves kill people and maim econonomies.
Shipping electronic products from Japan can be taxed at the custom. Last time when I sent a second hand electronic product from Japan, they charged me 15% of the full retail price as the import tax. They also can charge you the sales taxe, in addition to the import tax, if you can’t prove those articles you are shipping are not “online-purchase” from Japan, which you might think should not happen to you, but I think it can happen.
Here in Taiwan, imported electronic products cost 1.5 to 2 times the price in the countries of origin. You better bring those small electronic products with high retail price in your suites case with you to avoid those taxes, except laptops which are not priced absurdly.
There can be many people who speak fluent Japanese, but you rarely happen to meet them unless you actively try to look for them, except in turistic places, or unless you are a student. Japanese is not a popular language in Taiwan anymore since long.
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Japan is much drier compared to Taiwan, between June to September (even October actually) the weather is very uncomfortable here due to high humidity, so you will use the air condition a lot. Thats what we all do, you will be fine!
