Korokke in Typhoon
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Korokke (コロッケ)
About
Korokke in Typhoon (Japanese: 台風コロッケ, Taihuu Korokke) is an annual event of preparing and eating Korokke, a deep fried mashed potato like a croquette[1], for incoming typhoons.
Origin
Background: Typhoon in Japan
Japan has 20 or 30 typhoons every year. Though some of them are occasionally very large scale and give a massive damage to some regions, Japanese people don't need to panic to almost all because their scale is much smaller than that in southeast asia and that of hurricane in the U.S and most of cities and people's daily life in Japan are always well prepare for natural disasters.
Therefore, except for farmers and people in flood-prone areas, typhoon isn't so serious matter for Japanese people.
On 2channel
The origin of this custom is a post in a thread on /news/ (breaking news) board in the Japanese biggest anonymous boards site 2Channel when a large scale typhoon "Pabuk"[2] came to Japan in August 2001.[3] That was by an anonymous user in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture in August 21st.
Transcript:
111 ：From Yokomaha:2001/08/21(Tue) 13:10 ID:V2iqkNIA
Just in case, I bought 16 croquettes.
I've already eaten 3 pieces.
Spread
His/her too many Korokkes and too quick eating were very impressive for users in /news/ board who were famous for their special kind of enthusiasm. Some of them supported this his/her act, ignored typhoon, became wanting Korokkes.
Since then, wanting korokke in typhoons become literally viral in 2channel. The topic about preparing Korokke is posted to threads for typhoons by various 2channel users every time when a typhoon comes to Japan.
Moreover, this odd but enjoyable custom has been spreading to outside of 2channel by news reports by many internet media.[4][5][6]
Even Google suggests Korokke (コロッケ) for Typhoon (台風).
Derivatives
Shift-JIS Art & Illustration:[7]
Vocaloid Song: Typhoon Korokke
T-Shirt:[8]
"Let' eat the "CROQUETTE" all together for the day of the typhoon."
Search Interest
As Google Insights graph reveals, search queries for "台風 コロッケ" (Typhoon Korokke) yields consistent spikes when a large scale typhoon comes to Japan.
External References
[2] Wikipedia – 2001 Pacific typhoon season # Typhoon Pabuk
[3] mimizun.com – 【台風11号パブーク】上陸秒読み実況スレッド 14号 (thread archive, Japanese)
[4] labaq.com – 台風が来たらコロッケを食べる、という習慣があるらしい / 09-06-2007 (Japanese)
[5] webside.jp – 「台風 コロッケ」／「Googleサジェスト」の人気検索キーワードに見る防災の今（2） / 07-05-2010 (Japanese)
[6] web R25 – ネット界ではもはや常識!? 「台風の日はコロッケ」 / 09-13-2010 (Japanese)
[8] UPSOLD – 台風の日にはコロッケを食べよう | 和 | しょこら
