In Canada, before leaving for university, my dad would remind me to bring an umbrella with me if it was supposed to rain that day. I used to find his precautiousness a bit excessive at times. "Yeah, yeah" I'd often think to myself. For me, it wasn't such a great deal if I got rained on a bit. I usually spent my days sheltered from the rain (in university, riding in the bus or in the car with my dad) anyways so an umbrella wasn't of much use.
But now, being in Japan, it's something I almost always carry with me. If it's raining extremely hard, I can be completely drenched by the time I get home (a 5 min bike ride from school). I've also been told that the worst month is June. It rains excessively that month. I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't rain on the 9th... my birthday.
Annual precipitation in Japan ranges between 1200 and 4000 mm, depending where you're located. And in Japanese, there are so many different words and expressions to describe the rain, which shows how geographic location helps to shape the inhabitants' language. For example, here are three different degrees (or stages if you like) of downpour: (The answers are taking from the Japan Forum, they were so poetic that I didn't want to rephrase them in my own words)
Potsu-potsu : the dripping sound and appearance of scattered drops of rain falling, such as when it begins to rain.
Shito-shito : the sound of the long, steady rains that fall all day; continuous, fine precipitation almost without sound. A cloaking, enveloping quiet rain.
Zaa-zaa : Rain that beats down with a fierce pounding sound. Downpour.
1 comments:
Zaa-Zaa + Kaze = Not good :S
Post a Comment