13 Words for a Perfect Japanese Summer (part 1)
Japanese summer is coming, and it’s going to be a hot one!
As you probably know, the four seasons are very important in Japanese culture. In Japan, people love to honor the flowers, plants, events and weather of each season.
Summer is no exception. Summer in Japan is hot and humid. Lots of seasonal flowers bloom, and there are many special festivals and traditions to celebrate (or cope with!) the heat.
Here are 13 words you need to know to spend a scorching natsu (summer) in Japan!
Natsumeku - 夏めく
Natsumeku means ‘beginning to look like summer’ or ‘becoming summery’. This is a beautiful word you can use when you see something summery early on in the season, such as a hot blue sky or the sun glinting on the sea.
夏 (natsu) means summer and めく(meku) is a suffix that loosely means ‘becoming ~like’.
Tsuyu - 梅雨
Tsuyu is the ‘rainy season’ which is typical of the early Japanese summer. In central Japan, the rainy season arrives at the beginning of June and lasts until mid-July (it’s earlier in Okinawa). The Japanese rainy season is not as heavy as monsoons in other Asian countries, but there are usually heavy rain showers most days over a period of several weeks.
The kanji used for 梅雨 (tsuyu – rainy season) literally means ‘plum’ (梅) and ‘rain’ (雨). It’s called this because it’s also the season when plums ripen in Japan.
Ajisai - 紫陽花
Ajisai means hydrangea, the beautiful flowers that bloom everywhere during the rainy season in Japan. Japanese people love the way these flowers look in the rain or mist, and they feature in a lot of seasonal artwork and poetry.
The three kanji in 紫陽花 literally mean ‘purple sunshine flower’, but hydrangea can come in other colors including blue, pink, and white.
Fuurin - 風鈴
Fuurin is glass wind chimes that are a symbol of summer in Japan. They are made of a glass bell with a strip of paper hanging underneath. People hang them in open doors and windows during the summer. Summer in Japan can be very hot and humid, but when people hear the sound of the windchimes, they know there is a breeze, and this helps them feel cool! Sometimes wishes are written on the paper tail.
The word is made from two kanji, 風 (fuu – wind) and 鈴 (rin – bell).
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