Japanese Mini Lessons: Useful Japanese Expressions for the Rainy Season ☔
The rainy season has started in Tokyo.
Every year, when the rainy season begins, the Japan Meteorological Agency announces that a region has entered the rainy season. In Japanese, we call this 梅雨入り (つゆいり tsuyuiri), which means “the start of the rainy season.” This year, the Tokyo area entered the rainy season on June 7.
Today, We’d like to introduce some useful Japanese expressions related to rain!
Words for Different Types of Rain
When Japanese people talk about the weather, they often use different words depending on how strong the rain is.
霧雨 (きりさめ kirisame) drizzle
小雨 (こさめ kosame) light rain
大雨 (おおあめ ooame) heavy rain
豪雨 (ごうう gouu) torrential rain / downpour
土砂降り (どしゃぶり doshaburi) pouring rain / it’s pouring
For example, if it’s raining very heavily, you might hear someone say:
今日は土砂降りですね。
Kyō wa doshaburi desu ne.
“It’s really pouring today.”
Rain That Falls on a Sunny Day
There is also a word for rain that falls while the sun is shining:
天気雨 (てんきあめ tenkiame) sunshower
It’s a very easy word to understand because it literally means “weather rain” or “sunny-weather rain.”
There are also seasonal words for rain:
秋雨 (あきさめ akisame) autumn rain
However, be careful with 春雨 (はるさめ harusame). While it literally means “spring rain,” it is also the name of the thin transparent noodles used in many Japanese dishes! The noodles are called harusame (”spring rain”) because their thin, translucent appearance is said to resemble gentle spring rain.
A Japanese Proverb Using Rain
Let’s finish with a Japanese proverb.
雨後の筍 (うごのたけのこ ugo no takenoko)
The literal translation is “bamboo shoots after a rain”
What do you think it means?
After rain falls, bamboo shoots grow very quickly and many appear at once. Because of this, the expression is used to describe many similar things appearing one after another.
For example:
一時期、東京には雨後の筍のようにタピオカミルクティーの店が増えていった。
Ichijiki, Tōkyō ni wa ugo no takenoko no yō ni tapioka miruku tī no mise ga fuete itta.For a while, bubble tea shops were appearing one after another all over Tokyo.
Can you think of something in your country that appeared like 雨後の筍 (ugo no takenoko)?
The start of the rainy season is called 梅雨入り (つゆいり tsuyuiri), and the end of the rainy season is called 梅雨明け (つゆあけ tsuyuake). 梅雨明け is just around the corner, so until then, enjoy learning some rainy-day Japanese!
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