Rainy season in Japan

In early summer, most parts of Japan get visited by a rainy season, the so called tsuyu (or baiyu), literally meaning "plum rain", because it coincides with the season of plums ripening.

The rainy season is caused by the collision of cold northerly and warm southerly air masses, which results in a relatively stable bad weather front over the Japanese archipelago for several weeks.

In most of Japan, the rainy season lasts from the beginning of June to mid July, while it affects the islands of Okinawa about one month earlier. Only Japan's northern island of Hokkaido gets barely affected by the rainy season.

During the rainy season it does not rain every day. In fact, Tokyo registers only an average of 12 rainy days in June, while 120 hours of sunshine are recorded. As for the amount of rainfall, it varies from days with intensive downpours to other days with occasional sprinkles.

Nevertheless, the rainy season is not the most suitable season for visiting Japan, even though it can have its advantages. For example, travel activity is rather low during June, which clears many popular outdoor attractions from the many visitors that are usually present. Furthermore, some sights can be very attractive in rain, especially some temples, gardens and hot springs. All you need to enjoy traveling in the rain is the right attitude and rain protection.

The rainy season is also the season when farmers start to plan rice. Rice production is important to the food supply, with rice being a staple part of the Japanese diet. Japan is the ninth largest producer of rice in the world. The rice seasons in Japan last from May–June to September–October. About 85% of the 2.3 million farms in Japan plant rice yearly. Improved varieties of japonica rice are grown in almost all prefectures in the country. The most widely planted variety is Koshihikari.

The average rice field acreage of a Japanese farmer is very small and rice production is highly mechanized. Due to small farms, rice production is considered a part-time occupation by many farmers.

Domestic farm groups have long maintained that rice cultivation is part of Japanese culture. Japanese consumers have become more tolerant of high rice prices because their food expenditure as a ratio of total expenditure has declined as their incomes rise. Surprisingly, consumer groups have not actively supported the lifting of the ban in order to reduce the rice price. The main reason is reportedly the Japanese consumers’ demand for “high-quality” rice. Surveys do indicate that consumers believe that foreign rice tastes bad.