If you didn’t know, Japan has a rainy season called 梅雨（つゆ・tsuyu）. It arrives just before summer and usually brings about a month of cloudy, rainy weather.
But have you ever noticed how the word つゆ is written in Japanese? The kanji are 梅 (うめ, plum) and 雨 (あめ, rain), literally meaning “plum rain.” The name comes from the fact that this season coincides with the time when plums ripen.
In fact, Japanese has a remarkable variety of words for rain. Depending on how they’re counted, there are said to be more than 400 different expressions related to rain.
Why are there so many?
Some attribute it to the idea that Japanese people have traditionally paid attention not only to the fact that it’s raining, but also to when the rain falls, what kind of scenery it creates, and what emotions it evokes.
Take rain in the spring, for example.
A gentle, quiet rain in spring is called 春雨（はるさめ). Even the sound of the word feels soft and delicate, evoking a season when winter’s harshness fades and plants begin to sprout.
During cherry blossom season, there’s an expression called 花散らしの雨（はなちらしのあめ）, literally “the rain that scatters flowers.” It refers to rain that causes さくら (cherry blossoms) to fall. There is something both sad and beautiful about the image.
In summer, there is 夕立（ゆうだち）, a sudden afternoon shower. The sky darkens without warning, heavy rain pours down, and then, as if nothing had happened, the blue sky returns. It’s a typical scene of a Japanese summer.
And in winter, there is 時雨（しぐれ）. This is a rain that comes and goes repeatedly — falling, stopping, and falling again. Somehow, the two characters of the word seem to contain the chill of winter and its quiet atmosphere.
What’s even more fascinating is that some names for rain reflect human emotions and stories.
A sunshower — rain falling while the sun is shining — is called 狐の嫁入り（きつねのよめいり）, or “the fox’s wedding.” The name evokes a mysterious image of foxes secretly holding a wedding procession beyond human sight. Fans of Japanese cinema may recognize it from a scene in Dreams by Akira Kurosawa.
There’s also 涙雨（なみだあめ）, literally “tear rain,” a rain that falls on a sad occasion. It makes one feel as though the sky itself is crying.
Japanese has a long tradition of noticing subtle differences in nature and giving each one its own name.
We often feel a little gloomy when it rains. But when we learn to see it as harusame, shigure, or even a “fox’s wedding,” the same gray sky starts to feel a little more alive.
Perhaps that is one of the charms of Japanese: how it gives shape to small, fleeting moments we might otherwise overlook. Even rain becomes something with a mood, a season, and a story.
How about where you’re from? Do you have any special words for different kinds of rain?
Vocabulary:
- 雨（あめ）ー rain
- 梅（うめ）ー plum
- 梅雨（つゆ）ー tsuyu (rainy season in Japan)
- 春（はる）ー spring
- 狐（きつね）ー fox
- 涙（なみだ）ー tears
