Japan current n 1: a warm ocean current that flows northeastwardly off the coast of Japan into the northern Pacific ocean [syn: {Japan current}, {Kuroshio current}, {Kuroshio}]
Japan current \Japan current\ A branch of the equatorial current of the Pacific, washing the eastern coast of Formosa and thence flowing northeastward past Japan and merging into the easterly drift of the North Pacific; -- called also {Kuro-Siwo}, or {Black Stream}, in allusion to the deep blue of its water. It is similar in may ways to the Gulf Stream. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]