Plum Rain (梅雨)
Hi, how are you?
We feel it is getting humid and hot in NY.
Matcha Burmese cake with Family
Today’s blog is about plum rain.
It is raining season in June. This season is called
“Tsu-yu (梅雨)” in Japan. It means “plum rain” in English.
Japanese people feel very uncomfortable because it rains everyday during plum rain season.
<Negative points of Plum rain >
1. People cannot hang their laundry outside for drying.
We know most people will not think about drying their
laundry outside in New York because they live in an
apartment or a high building. They use drying machine
instead but it is a regular practice to dry washed clothes
outside for Japanese people who lives in local areas in
Japan. People living in Tokyo or Osaka area will follow
same way as New Yorkers.
2. The food goes bad quickly because of the high humidity.
3. The high humidity and continuous rain cause depression
for some people.
<Positive points of plum rain >
1. It is an important season for vegetables and fruits because
the rain helps them grow. If the rain does not come, they
will lack water in the summer. Fruits and vegetables need
the rain for harvest.
2.Hydrangea blooms into beautiful colors such as blue purple
and pink. These colors create a healing feeling for
Japanese people.
3. We can see the firebugs (lightning bugs) near river areas.
Clean water can flow at night after plum rain season
finished. We feel cool and summer will come soon.
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< How Japanese people spend plum rain season >
We spend the raining season indoors and pass time with activities such as watching DVD, listening to music, reading books, playing computer games, cooking and so on.
Actually, plum flowers does not bloom during this season, so why is the kanji character,“梅” (Ume, meaning plum) use in the name?
The original name is said to be originated from China. In China, plum flowers bloom near the Yangtze river area
( 長江： it is a very famous and long river) during this raining
season.
It is the season for growing plums in China. When the name came to Japan, we keep the original Kanji (梅 Ume：Plum) for June’s season.
Matcha Milk Pudding with Junior and Sir. Spongy
Thank you very much for reading and taking your precious
time with us.
See you again on our next blog.