In Showa 49 ,1974 AMEDASU(Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System), a service providing data from the National Meteorological Agency, is introduced. Hourly weather data from some 1,300 observation points around the country, including rainfall, wind direction and speed, temperature and sun levels is sent automatically over telephone lines to a center where it is collected and processed and the results automatically distributed to some 60 weather stations and observatories.

---