Everywhere I tried searching 気象庁 on the internet, I found that it is only
associated with JMA. But my 先生 firmly argues that 気象庁 does not only mean JMA
but general meteorological observatory/agency. I found 気象台 for general
observatory but my sensei is adamant so I wanted to hear it from natives.
Thanks a lot in advance!
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2018-05-04T09:24:29.567
58342
2018-05-04T15:09:23.920
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question
meaning
Is 気象庁 used only for JMA or any general meteorological observatory?
庁 is a kanji for _national_ agencies, so you cannot use 庁 for observatories in
general. For example, a weather station run by a university or a private
company is definitely not 庁, although it may be called a 気象台 or 気象観測所. World
Meteorological Organization run by the UN is not 気象庁, either. Here is the
current list of Japanese 庁:
[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/庁](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%81)

庁 itself can be used for other countries' national agencies similar to
Japanese 庁. For example there is
[大韓民国気象庁](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E9%9F%93%E6%B0%91%E5%9B%BD%E6%B0%97%E8%B1%A1%E5%BA%81)
in Korea. Still, not all national organizations in charge of weather are run
in the form similar to Japanese 庁, so 庁 is not a suitable generic term for
them. For example, Italian Meteorological Service is a sub-unit of Italian
army, so it's not a 庁.

Japanese Wikipedia has a list of government-run meteorological offices:
[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/気象機関の一覧](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%97%E8%B1%A1%E6%A9%9F%E9%96%A2%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7)
Judging from this and some articles linked from this, there is no simple
"generic term" for JMA-like organizations in various countries. You have to
say 気象機関, 気象に関する国家機関, etc.
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2018-05-04T13:58:11.587
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2018-05-04T15:09:23.920
2018-05-04T15:09:23.920
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answer