Japan is unique because…

Sometimes I get some of the strangest comments from a few people in Japan, I have to wonder if they’ve ever learned about anything outside of Japan.  One of the most common comments I’ve had is that Japan is unique because it has 4 seasons.  It’s as if only Japan gets 4 seasons.  When I tell them that Canada has 4 seasons, they’re shocked to discover this.  They thought only Japan has 4 seasons.  I then go on to tell them that every country outside of the tropics has 4 seasons.  It really seems to surprise them.  They then go on to say that Japan’s seasons are special, and describe them briefly.  Then I tell them that’s what it’s like in Canada, too.  I think I’ve shattered a few people’s bubbles that they live in.  And that’s a good thing.

On a similar note, even though I’ve been in Japan for more than 6 years, I still have people telling me about rainy season as if it’s the first time I’ve heard of it.

Rainy season’s last effort

It looks like tomorrow will be beautiful. The forecast is for hot and sunny weather for the foreseeable future. But tonight, it’s raining so heavily, I’m very wet. I took these pictures with my iPhone.

It's raining in Sugita!

It's raining in Ofuna!

It's raining on the cars!

It's raining under the lights!

It's raining on the convenience stores!

Rainy season ending? I heard a cicada!

Many things are pointing to the end of rainy season this week.  First of all, I could actually hear a cicada outside today.  Cicadas don’t like rainy weather.  They’re out when it’s hot and sunny, and the time after rainy season is the best for them.  Second, I checked a few weather forecasts (they all seem to give different conditions), and most of them are indicating very hot and sunny weather later this week and next weekend.  That’s about 32 or 33 degrees.  That’s post-rainy season weather.  This means that for the next 2 months, it should be around 32 or 33 degrees and sunny nearly everyday with the occasional heavy rainfall due to typhoons.  Aren’t we all excited?

Of course, rainy season isn’t over just yet.  Still lots of rain is forecast for the next couple days.

Tsuyu, the rainy season

It’s that time of year again.  It’s time for the rainy season, or tsuyu (梅雨) in Japanese.  It begins around the middle of June and lasts until the middle of July.  It’s typically very wet with sometimes heavy rain, sometimes misty rain, sometimes thunderstorms.  Night time temperatures are very close to the daytime temperatures, differing by only 2 or 3 degrees sometimes.  It is also very humid.  Usually, it is warm to hot weather, which makes it very uncomfortable.  It’s also terrible weather for doing laundry.

This year’s rainy season has started quite normally, with lots of rain.  The rain started Sunday night.  Last year, the rainy season started late, and even then, it was a pretty dry rainy season.  Once it was supposed to have ended, the normally hot and sunny mid to late July became very wet.  It was a strange summer last year.  Well, I’m hoping for a normal rainy season and a normal summer this year.

We’ve already had several days approaching 30 degrees, and will have some hot days this week.  The tropical air during rainy season will keep it quite muggy.  After rainy season, I look forward to around 2 months of hot and sunny days with temperatures above 30 degrees and high humidity.  Got to love Japan’s summer.

Why is it raining?

Rainy season ended last week. Then why is it raining more this week than it did during rainy season?

A little update here:  It’s 4 hours since I posted this.  The rain wasn’t bad when I took the picture, but now it is a very heavy downpour.

Rainy season is over!

Rainy season has ended, which means the hot, humid and rainy weather becomes hotter, humid and sunny weather. At least it won’t rain much, unless we get a typhoon.