Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2023 October 29

= October 29 =

Closest Large(Medium?) Hot Deserts to Japan
In a discussion of Ace Attorney, the intersection of Dominant Japanese culture and the US West Coast Cities was part of it. While Seattle and San Francisco seem not that far in terms pf climate/conditions/crampness by mountains to Japan, Los Angeles has a *very* different situation. While Okinawa is approaching Los Angeles in Climate, Okinawa is long and slim and I don't think anywhere is more than 10 miles from the Ocean.

So my question is "Where is the closest spot to Japan in the world that meets the following Criteria: 1) Desert or near Desert (if a hard number is needed, annual rainfall less than twice the average annual rainfall of Los Angeles and 2) is more than 50 miles from the Ocean 3) Is not freezing (Average January lows are above freezing)?"

I *guess* that Northwest/West Australia (not sure on Northeast Australia) would meet the criteria, is there anywhere closer to Tokyo that would? Naraht (talk) 14:14, 29 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Karakum? Remsense  聊  14:21, 29 October 2023 (UTC)
 * I don't see any weather info for Darvaza, which seems to be the town in the middle of Karakum. I did see weather for the Turkmenstani capital of Ashgabat, which doesn't meet the climate criteria *only* because average January Lows are -0.1C (close enough). I did go back to get mileage for Tokyo to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; Broome, Australia; and Los Angeles, USA. Of the three, Los Angeles is the only one less than 6,000 Km from Tokyo. So unless there is a place that stays warm enough farther East in Asia, I think Los Angeles and its suburbs are the winner. *Really* wierd.Naraht (talk) 15:23, 29 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Naraht, what??? LA is 8800 km from Tokyo. The Pacific Ocean is very, very big. — Remsense  聊  15:25, 29 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Crap. I typed "distance broome, australia to tokyo" into google and it gave it to me in kilometers, I typed distance los angeles to tokyo and it gave it to me in miles. So far my nominees for Asia are either Turkmenistan or the middle section of the Pakistani/India border near Pokrhan based on the map at Climate of Asia. - — Preceding unsigned comment added by Naraht (talk • contribs) 15:33, 29 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Jaipur matches your criteria and is slightly less than 5000 km from the small southern islands of Japan. It actually has a BSh (hot steppe) climate, as there's quite a bit of rainfall in July. PiusImpavidus (talk) 11:54, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes, that is a decent size city near the "Middle section of the Pakistani/India border" I mentioned above. That is probably about as good as can be done.Naraht (talk) 23:59, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Just pointing out something I found very interesting... Looking at our atlas references, this helped me discover a location I did not know, the Tottori sand dunes outside of Tottori, Japan. if you allowed a small desert adjacent to water, Tottori is a tiny desert that rarely dips below freezing. Apparently, it was much larger before WWII, but shrank with government programs to turn the area into farmable land. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 17:26, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Tottori is pretty wet. Sand dunes are common along coast (and even rivers) around the world. All you need is a source of sand, a shallow slope and sufficient wind. Typically, they make pretty bad farmland, but Japan has such a lack of good farmland that they tried anyway. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:17, 31 October 2023 (UTC)