
Beautiful Japanese Words to Express Weathers and Time
It is important to talk about “weather” with Japanese people. The weather keeps changing in Japan, so Japanese people often talk about “weather” instead of any greeting. Japanese has various words expressing weather, not only “sunny,” “cloudy,” “rainy” and “snowy.” Also, it has lots of words to express the movement of the sun and time. Let’s check Japanese words related to “weather” that we often use in conversation.
[ 晴れのち雨 晴れときどき雨 晴れ一時雨 ]
The weather in Japan is changeable. It is important to check the weather forecast. They are the examples that are frequently asked about weather forecasts.
“晴れのち雨 (Harenochi ame)”: sunny, later rainy
“のち (nochi)” means “B after A.”
“晴れときどき雨 (Hare tokidoki ame)”: sunny, sometimes rainy
“ときどき (tokidoki)” is “sometimes.”
“晴れ一時雨 (Hare ichiji ame)”: sunny, occasional rainy
“一時 (ichiji)” is “for an undisclosed period.”
“降水確率 80% (Kousuikakuritsu 80%)”: probability of precipitation 80%
If the probability of precipitation is low, it will be sunny, and if the probability of precipitation is high, it will be cloudy, rainy, or snowy.
[ 晴天 (seiten) ]
It is called “晴天 (seiten),” “好天 (kouten)” or “晴れ (hare),” when there are few clouds and the sky is blue.
Here are some conversation phrases for sunny days.
“今日はいい天気ですね (Kyo wa ii tenki desune)”: It is sunny today.
“今日は雲一つない青空ですね (Kyo wa kumo hitotu nai aozora desune)”: Today the sky is blue with no clouds.
“よく晴れましたね (Yoku haremashita ne)”: It is a beautiful sunny day.
“今日は快晴ですね。 (Kyo wa kaisei desune)”: It’s a beautiful day today.
“秋晴れですね。 (Aki bare desune)”: It’s a clear autumn day.
“快晴 (kaisei)” “日本晴れ (nihon bare)” It is a sunny day with no clouds in the sky and a clear blue sky.
“五月晴れ (satsuki bare)”: It is a beautiful weather in May. Or it is the sunny day in the rainy season, June.
“秋晴れ (aki bare)”: It is a sunny day in October.
“青空 (aozora)”: It is a blue sky and means a sunny day.
[ 曇天 (donten)]
When there are a lot of clouds and the sky is gray, it is said to be “曇天 (donten)” or “曇り (kumori).”
Here are some phrases to use on a cloudy day.
“空が曇っていますね (Sora ga kumotte imasune)”: It is cloudy, isn’t it?
“雨が降りそうですね (Ame ga furisou desune)”: It looks like it is going to rain.
“はっきりしない天気ですね (Hakkiri sinai tenki desune)”: The weather looks so changeable.
“すっきりしない天気ですね (Sukkiri shinai tenki desune)”: It is overcast weather.
“どんよりした天気ですね (Donyori shita tenki desune)”: The weather is gloomy, isn’t it?
“はっきりしない (Hakkiri shinai),” “すっきりしない (Sukkiri shinai” and “どんよりした (Donyori shita)” are used to say that the weather is neither sunny nor rainy and you are not too sure what the weather is like.
Spring has many cloudy days. In March and April in particular, although it does not rain, there are many cloudy days. “春曇り (haru gumori)” refers to cloudy days in spring. Cloudy days in particular during the cherry blossom season are called “花曇り (hana gumori).” Also, a light gray sky that is not sunny but does not rain is called “薄曇り (usu gumori).”
[ 荒天 (kouten) ]
Rainy, snowy, or very windy days, or other weather that makes us not want to go outside, are called “荒天 (kouten).” Japan is a rainy country, so it has many words for rain. There are apparently over 400 words to describe rain.
Here are some conversation phrases for rainy days.
“雨が降っていますよ (Ame ga futteimasuyo)” 雨が降る (amegafuru) ⇒ rain
“雨が止みました (Ame ga yamimashita)” 雨が止む (amegayamu) ⇒ rain is stop
“雨が上がりました (Ame ga agarimashita)”: The rain has stopped.
“雨上がりに虹が見えますよ (Ame agari ni niji ga miemasu yo)” 虹 (niji) ⇒ rainbow
“雨が強くなってきました (Ame ga tuyoku nattekimasita)”: The rain is getting stronger.
“雨が小降りになってきました (Ame ga koburi ni nattekimasita)”: The rain has let up a bit.
“小雨 (kosame)”: drizzle
“大雨 (oame)”: heavy rain
“にわか雨 (niwaka ame)”: flurry
“通り雨 (tori ame)” “涙雨 (namida ame): brief rain
“涙 (namida)” means tears. What a romantic phrase it is.
“天気雨 (tenki ame)”: sudden rainfall in the sunshine
“豪雨 (gouu)”: storm rainfall
“土砂降り (doshaburi)”: It is the rain stronger than a heavy rain.
Here are some phrases that are only used during the rainy season.
“梅雨 (tsuyu / baiu)”: rainy season, the period from June to July in Japan
“梅雨入り (tsuyu iri)”: when the rainy season begins
“梅雨明け (tsuyu ake)”: when the rainy season ends
When the rainy season ends, it is “雷雨 (rai u)” in many days. “雷 (kaminari)”: thunder rumbles along with the rain.
“夕立 (yu dachi)”: evening shower. The rain is strong, but it stops after a short time.
In summer, “台風 (tai fu): typhoons” come from the south. When a big typhoon comes, trains may stop running and schools and companies may be closed.
“秋雨 (aki same) (shu u)” “秋の長雨 (aki no naga ame)”: At the end of summer, around September, it may rain every day.
Japan gets a lot of rain throughout the year.
In Japan, a rainy country, there is a phrase called “恵みの雨 (Megumi no ame).”
A lot of water is needed to grow plants such as rice and vegetables. When we need water and rain falls, we say “恵みの雨ですね (Megumi no ame desune): It’s a blessed rain .” This phrase reflects the feeling that for Japanese people, rain can sometimes be very important and something to be grateful for.
[ Phrases to Describe Time ]
There are also various ways to say morning, noon, and night. From midnight to 11:59 is 午前 (gozen), 12 o’clock is 正午 (shogo), and from 12:00 to 23:59 is 午後 (gogo).
“日の出 (hinode)”: sunrise
“朝日 (asa hi)”: the rising sun
“日の入り (hinoiri)” “日が沈む (hi ga shizumu)” “日没 (nichibotsu)” “日暮れ (higure): sunset
“夕日 (yuhi)”: The sun at sunset
“明け方 (akegata)” “夜明け (yoake)”: dawn. The time from about 4 am until the sky becomes bright.
“早朝 (sou cho)”: From about 6am until the sky becomes bright, around 8pm
“夕方 (yugata)”: The time from about 4pm until the sun sets. On clear days, the sky turns red and is very beautiful.
“夕焼け (yu yake)”: sunset. The red sky in the evening. It means that the sky is burning red or on fire. It is sometimes used in song lyrics and poetry.
There are also many different ways to describe the time of night.
“夜中 (yo naka)”: the time from around 11pm to around 2am
“深夜 (shinya)”: midnight. the time from around midnight to around 2am
There are many other words to express time. There are some beautiful expressions that have been used for over 1000 years. If you are interested, it would be interesting to look into them.
[ Let’s Learn More in TCJ ]
This time, we know some weather and time words that we can use often in our daily lives.
Many foreigners who have lived in Japan seem to wonder why Japanese people talk so much about the weather. When I talk to students, “it is nice weather today” “the weather forecast says it is rainy tomorrow,” some look confused at first. However, as they get used to life in Japan, they start to reply, “That’s right. I’m going to go to the beach tomorrow, so I hope it’s sunny.” That can sometimes be the start of a conversation. Talking about the weather is also a part of culture of conversation in Japan. Importance of TCJ is “speaking” and “listening” to other people. Join our class and talk a lot!
( References )
Japan Weather Association https://tenki.jp/
Japan Meteorological Agency https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/index.html
Weather news Inc. https://jp.weathernews.com/
NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporationhttps://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/research/kotoba/index.html