Acceptance
By using the Tokyo Microclimate Observatory website, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, the remedy is simple: don't use the site. The site is operated by Oregon Timber Dwellings LLC, a Washington State limited liability company, and these terms form the entire agreement between you and the operator regarding the website.
What the site is
The site publishes observational analysis of Greater Tokyo microclimates: zone essays, a schematic zone map, a seasonal heat-rain matrix, live weather conditions from the Open-Meteo API, and related reference material. It is an informational publication. It is not a meteorological forecasting service, not an emergency alert system, and not professional advice of any kind — not medical, not legal, not financial, not engineering. During typhoons, floods, and heat emergencies, follow the Japan Meteorological Agency and your local authorities, not this website. We take readings and write essays. The authorities issue warnings. Those are different jobs and we respect the difference.
Accuracy and the corrections ethic
We work hard to keep every figure accurate, and we publish our methods and sources so you can check us. But observational data carries uncertainty, APIs fail, normals get revised, and we occasionally get things wrong. Content is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, completeness, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. When we find an error we correct it and log it on the corrections page with the wrong value left visible. That ethic is a commitment about how we handle mistakes, not a warranty that mistakes won't occur.
Live weather data
The current conditions displays come from the Open-Meteo API and reflect model-interpolated point forecasts for our five measurement coordinates. They may differ from conditions at your exact location, sometimes by a degree or more within a two-kilometer radius. If the feed is unavailable, the displays read “Updating…” and no estimated values are substituted. Do not make safety-critical decisions from these displays.
Intellectual property
The essays, the zone map design, the seasonal matrix, photographs, and site design are the property of Oregon Timber Dwellings LLC or its licensors. You may read, link to, and quote brief excerpts with attribution and a link. You may not republish essays wholesale, scrape the site at volume, repackage the content into a competing product, or present our figures as your own measurements. Educational and journalistic citation with attribution is welcomed — that's what a citation culture is for.
Acceptable use
You agree not to attack, probe, or disrupt the site; not to scrape it at a rate that burdens the infrastructure; not to submit false or abusive material through the contact form; and not to misrepresent our content in ways that could endanger others — for example, presenting our historical figures as current emergency guidance. We reserve the right to block access for abuse. So far, in the life of the project, we've never had to; the readership of a microclimate site is a civilized demographic, and we intend to keep it that way.
External services
The site calls the Open-Meteo API from your browser and loads fonts from Google Fonts. Those services have their own terms and privacy practices, which we don't control. Links within the site stay on our own pages; where external sources are referenced in essays, they are named in text rather than linked, and we take no responsibility for third-party sites.
Guide purchases
Climate guides sold through the site are digital publications licensed for personal use. Pricing runs from $22 to $44 depending on the guide. The full terms of sale, including the refund window, are on the refund policy page and are incorporated into these terms by reference. In brief: personal use license, no redistribution, refunds handled generously.
Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Oregon Timber Dwellings LLC is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the site, including decisions about housing, travel, health, or safety made in reliance on site content. Our aggregate liability for any claim related to the site is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim, or fifty US dollars if you paid nothing. Some jurisdictions don't allow certain limitations; where they don't, the limitation applies to the greatest extent allowed.
Governing law and venue
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes arising from the site or these terms will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in King County, Washington, and you consent to their jurisdiction. The site's Japan office is an operational presence, not a separate contracting party.
Changes and contact
We may update these terms; the effective date above will change, and material changes will be announced on the front page for 30 days. Continued use after an update constitutes acceptance. Questions about these terms: [email protected] or +1 (206) 624-8910.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Oregon Timber Dwellings LLC from claims arising out of your misuse of the site: redistribution of purchased guides, scraping at disruptive volume, misrepresentation of our figures as emergency guidance, or violation of these terms. This doesn't cover honest use, honest quotation, or honest disagreement with our analysis. If you think our +2.8°C figure is wrong and you publish an argument saying so, that's scholarship, not misuse — cite your instruments and we may end up citing you on the corrections page.
Schematic maps and representations
The zone map is a schematic drawn to observation logic, not cartographic scale. Zone boundaries are analytical constructs derived from measured discontinuities; they are not surveyed property lines, planning boundaries, or hazard designations. Do not use the map for navigation, construction, insurance underwriting, or official process. The seasonal matrix presents climatological normals — thirty-year averages — which by definition describe no actual single year. Using a normal as a forecast is a category error we work hard to prevent, and this paragraph is part of that work.
Force majeure
We're not liable for service interruptions caused by events beyond reasonable control — hosting failures, network outages, and, with a certain irony, severe weather. Typhoon Faxai knocked out power across the Boso Peninsula for weeks in 2019; should a comparable event take our Japan office offline, content updates pause while the instruments come back. The site's static pages are served from redundant hosting, so full outages are unlikely, but the live weather boxes depend on a third-party API whose availability we don't control.
Severability and waiver
If any provision of these terms is found unenforceable, the remainder continues in force. Our failure to enforce a provision in one instance isn't a waiver of it in the next. These terms, together with the privacy policy and the refund policy for purchases, are the whole agreement; nothing on any other page — however confidently phrased — modifies them.
Assignment
You may not assign your obligations under these terms. We may assign ours only in connection with a transfer of the business itself, and any successor would be bound by these same terms and the privacy policy. The observatory's commitments to its readers are meant to survive the org chart.
Language
These terms are written in English and the English text controls. The site's content is published in English only, and no translated version of these terms is authoritative. If a translation is ever provided for convenience, it will say so and defer to this text.
Children and students
The site is a general-audience publication not directed at children, and no part of it is designed to collect data from minors. Students are welcome to cite the essays in coursework with attribution; teachers assigning the site have our standing permission, no request needed. What students may not do is present our figures as their own fieldwork — a sentence we include after exactly one memorable inquiry from a school district, and which we hope answers the next one in advance.
Entire agreement and contact
These terms, the privacy policy, and — for purchases — the refund policy constitute the entire agreement between you and Oregon Timber Dwellings LLC regarding this site. Any prior or simultaneous understandings, emails, or conversations don't modify them. Questions about anything on this page: [email protected], or the Seattle registered office. We answer legal questions the way we answer climate ones: from the record, in writing, and without theater.