Japan

Both my SFO-NRT Jul 16 and HND-LAX flight Mar 5 had decent turbulence 2-3 hours off the coast of Japan.

Is this common for the area off the Japanese coast?

Leaving Tokyo ~21:00 it smoothed out ~24:00 south of Alaskan waters after a noticeable dip from 30,000 to 25,000 ft, likely to find smoother air, and then reascended to 36,000 ft.

Once I opened the Flight Aware live flight tracking map (flightaware.com) it helped to see where the weather was. We landed in LA and I asked my Taiwanese flight mate who does this route often how it was for her. She said it was one of the worst she's experienced.

Perhaps it has something to do with March weather|wind|jet streams?

Flights in the northern hemisphere's spring, summer, and fall should be smoother to Japan.

"During winter, the jet stream intensifies and leads to stronger turbulence."

Flights in the northern hemisphere's spring, summer, and fall should be smoother to Japan.

"During winter, the jet stream intensifies and leads to stronger turbulence."

https://turbli.com/blog/the-most-turbulent-routes-and-airports-of-2022/