Kujira developed from a broad area of disturbed weather as a tropical depression on April 9 well removed from any landmasses . Shortly after development , Kujira quickly intensified in its early stages , and was upgraded to a tropical storm just two days after cyclogenesis . Strengthening slowed afterwards , though the storm attained typhoon intensity on April 14 . Intensification continued and late on April 15 , Kujira reached its peak intensity with winds of 165 km / h ( 105 mph ) and a minimum barometric pressure of 930 mbar ( hPa ; 27 @.@ 46 inHg ) . Following peak intensity , Kujira would begin to track northwest and oscillate in strength , cresting an additional two times in intensity . On April 21 , the typhoon was downgraded to tropical storm intensity and began to track erratically for several days east of Taiwan . However , on April 24 , Kujira would resume a northward track and begin to weaken , and on April 24 was downgraded to tropical depression strength as it made landfall on Kyushu . Following landfall , Kujira transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on April 25 , which persisted until crossing the International Dateline towards the end of April 2003 .