Japanese Rainy Season
Japan has two annual rainy seasons in June and September, called “Tsuyu (梅雨, spring rainy season)” and “Akisame (秋雨, autumn rainy season)” for each.
This article focus on hydrangeas which is the flour of spring rainy season.
Spring rainy season stays in Japan from late May to early July between spring and autumn.
The season does not rain so much as that of south east Asia where big amount of rain fall in a short time but light rain keeps falling for a long time, which makes umbrellas essential Japanese fashion item during that season.
Umbrellas and Japanese people
Japan produces about 120 million umbrellas per year, which is the world’s largest number.
This roots from a Japanese custom of Japanese people always going out with umbrellas during the rainy season.
The umbrellas they take should match the cloth they wear on the day, so they have several umbrellas in their home even though only one is brought out at a time.
Japanese spirit of Yukashi
This culture comes from the Japanese concept of “Yukashi (ゆかし)”, that is, a concept in which you want to see, hear and know something.
In old Japanese proverb from Edo-era about 200 years ago says, the condition in which women attracts people the most is, when she is seen from a distant place, in a dark mood, hiding in an umbrella(遠目、暗がり、傘の内).
These conditions make people want to see, hear and know something about her.
It can be said that the Japanese umbrella culture derives from the old Japanese concept of beauty in which umbrellas play an important role of making the man in an umbrella more attractive.
Japanese people choose their umbrellas, taking the above concept into account, which makes them to choose an unique one.
Therefore, you can enjoy rainy days in Japan with blooming colorful umbrellas.
Of course it’s great opportunity for you to feel the rain, echoing the sounds on your favorite umbrella.
Next Article
Next article will focus on the location town of this article, Kamakura, where is famous for blooming hydrangeas in temples.
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