(Tsuyu Front 2026) Looking forward to rainy days!? Learn the seasonal words of the rainy season and enjoy walking through the rain-soaked town.

The season when gray clouds cover the sky has arrived once again. Laundry doesn't dry, and plans to go out are at the mercy of the rain—many people find this rainy season, known as Tsuyu, somewhat melancholic. In days filled only with the sound of rain, even your spirits might feel dampened.

However, Japan has long possessed many beautiful words to describe this rainy season.

"Hashiri-tsuyu" (early rainy season), "Ao-tsuyu" (green rainy season), "Samidare" (early summer rain)—and even seasonal words like "Kurohae" (black south wind) that describe the atmosphere of the rainy season. Once you know these seasonal words, the townscape that was once just a rainy scene begins to look a little different.

On rainy days, there are ways of walking that are unique to the rain. You might fix your eyes on the coloring of hydrangeas or listen to the sound of rain by the window of an old coffee shop. Perhaps the rainy season is, by nature, a time to savor a quiet elegance.

This time, using beautiful seasonal words of the rainy season as our guide, we will introduce ways to enjoy the rainy season that might make you like it a little more.

When you know the names of the rain, the scenery becomes a little gentler.

In the Japanese language, there are a surprising number of "rain words."
Rather than dismissing it all as just "rain," people have captured the way it falls, the scent of the air, and even the shifting of the seasons within these words.

For example, the rain that falls like the rainy season around late May, before the actual rainy season begins, is called "Hashiri-tsuyu." It has a ring to it, as if the season is rushing toward us before the full rainy season arrives.

Conversely, the rain that falls toward the end of the rainy season is sometimes called "Okuri-tsuyu" (sending-off rain). It is a rain that marks the change of seasons, sometimes accompanied by thunder. It has been given a somewhat memorable name, as if to see off the long rainy season.

When you know these seasonal words, a small story is born even in the weather forecast you might have just glanced at every morning. The state of the sky no longer feels like a mere inconvenience, but rather like a letter arriving from the season itself.

The beautiful seasonal word, "Ao-tsuyu"

Among the seasonal words for the rainy season, one with a particularly beautiful sound is "Ao-tsuyu" (green rainy season). It refers to the time when green leaves are wet with rain and their color appears even deeper; it evokes a scene of early summer full of vitality rather than a damp, gloomy impression.

On a rainy day, when you look at the trees flowing past the train window, there are moments when the green itself seems to be taking a deep breath.

Raindrops remaining on the surface of leaves. Wet cobblestones. The scent of damp soil in the park.
Colors you wouldn't notice on a sunny day quietly emerge during the rainy season.

If you are going to visit an art museum or a garden, this season is actually recommended. A Japanese garden wet with rain has softer contours, and the green of the moss gains depth.

On a weekday afternoon when there are few people around, you might get the feeling that time itself has been left behind in the quiet.

"Samidare" brings quiet time

The word "Samidare" is also a seasonal word for the rainy season that has been cherished since ancient times.

It refers to the long rains that fall in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, which corresponds to the rainy season around June in the modern calendar. It has frequently appeared in haiku and classical literature, and has been loved as a word that evokes a quiet lingering charm.

Although it is sometimes used in modern times to mean "sporadic" or "intermittent," it was originally a seasonal word that evoked a sense of serenity and slow-moving time.

On rainy days, traveling inevitably becomes a chore. However, on such days, you don't have to force yourself to go far.

Take a slow walk through a shopping street.
Peek into an old bookstore.
Drink coffee at a traditional old-fashioned coffee shop.
The rainy season is a time that strangely suits such small detours.

When you walk while holding an umbrella, your field of vision becomes narrower than usual, which actually makes it easier to notice small things.
A wind chime hanging from the eaves. Wet hydrangeas. A cat in a back alley.
Perhaps the sound of the rain softens the noise of the city and quietly puts the scenery in order.

There are places that suit the rainy season precisely because it is a rainy day.

Tourist spots are glamorous on sunny days, but they have a different charm on rainy days.
For example, temples and shrines.

The wet stone steps and the moist scent of wood suit the atmosphere of the rainy season very well.
Watching the sound of rain falling on a bamboo grove or the ripples spreading in a stone water basin, your hurried feelings gradually calm down.

Visiting literature museums or local history museums is also fun.
The rainy season is also a season that suits reading. If you have a favorite author, it is also nice to walk through the land they wrote about.
When you walk through a town while recalling rainy scenes that appear in the works of Osamu Dazai or Natsume Soseki, there are moments when the real scenery overlaps with literature.

Also, if you like crafts or sketching, it is recommended to enjoy time "drawing the rain" by the window.
The gray sky actually contains many mixed colors. Light blue, silver, pale purple, blue-green—the scenery of the rainy season is a treasure trove of quiet colors.

Plants of the rainy season, not just hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are famous as flowers of the rainy season, but there are other charming plants in this season.

Japanese irises, lizard's tail, gardenias, and southern magnolias.

All of them are flowers that increase in beauty in the humid air.

In particular, the scent of gardenia flowers is impressive. When a sweet scent suddenly drifts through a residential area after the rain, I feel, "Ah, this season has come again this year."

Seasonal words might be "memories of the season" that include not only what you see with your eyes, but also smells and sounds.

Summary | Why not take a little detour this rainy season?

The rainy season is an inconvenient season.
Shoes get wet, the sky is overcast, and laundry doesn't dry.

However, Japanese people have long found beauty and emotion within those rainy hours. That is likely why beautiful seasonal words like "ao-tsuyu" (green rainy season) and "samidare" (early summer rain) still remain today.

If it rains next time, why not change your perspective just a little?

Take your favorite umbrella and walk down a path where hydrangeas bloom.
Step into a quiet coffee shop.
Stroll through old townscapes while listening to the sound of the rain.

There is surely a view there that you couldn't see on a sunny day.

Why not spend this year's rainy season not as an "unpleasant season," but as a "season to find quiet pleasures"? You might find yourself looking forward to going out on rainy days just a little bit. (Text: Futa Senri)

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