“When it rains, it pours” — there’s no other quote that pairs perfectly than this one for Japan’s rainy season, otherwise known as tsuyu/baiyu (梅雨). Lasting roughly a month, this is the month where you want to call off outdoor activities (sorry guys, Mt. Fuji’s a no-go) and seek safe haven, far away from water droplets on your everything and smelly socks from all the water seeping into your sneakers. But who says the outdoors is the only definition to fun?

Here’s a MOSHI MOSHI guide to this rainy season, a prelude to Japan’s notorious steaming hot summers (ARE U READY?), including the origins of this wet season as well as all the indoor activities the city’s readied to keep you happy even when the skies are grey!

Check out all of Masashi Wakui’s gorgeous photos here.

Tsuyu/Baiyu (梅雨)

For our photogenic beasts, rain can be a good mix with night time neon lights, but on the whole, nothing really shines our life more than a streak of sunlight that gently wakes us up and revives us for the oncoming day. The word Baiyu originates from China, another victim of this rainy season along with North Korea, and is said to be given the kanji characters that translate to “plum rain” due to plums becoming ripe in China during this time of the year. Since this is not so much true in Japan with plums being fairly green even post-rainy-season, the Japanese adopted tsuyu, an alternate way of reading the kanji, in the Edo period. We all know things easily go bad/rotten during the rainy season which is referred to “tsuieru” in Japanese (used as “mono ga tsuieru = things go bad“) — which easily allows us to draw how the Japanese incorporated this into their way of reading it, giving it the name we’ve become accustomed to — TSU-YU.

Tsuyu-iri (translates to Entering Tsuyu!)

Tsuyu hits the southern region of Japan first, with Okinawa entering tsuyu mid-May, while Tokyo enters the rainy season at the beginning of June, and surprise! Hokkaido never joins the game, and some may say this slightly counteracts the freezing weather it brings to all Hokkaido-ians throughout the year (because snow over rain any day…amirite) The Weather Bureau estimates that Tokyo enters Tsuyu on the 8th of May annually on average, which makes this year’s tsuyu-iri faster as we’re currently bathed in Tsuyu season since the 5th, while the predicted Tsuyu-ake (= end of Tsuyu) date is set for July 21!

So we’re mid-Tsuyu…but guess what?

Indoors is the new Outdoors

Credits: http://en.rocketnews24.com/

Grub on foods you’ve become familiar with through your love for Mamoru Hosoda

It’s like every summer, you’re looking forward to a film by this guy. From “Summer Wars” to the most recent “The Boy and the Beast,” it seems like victory surrounds whatever he touches. At this cafe that’s set to open in Shibuya PARCO The Guest Cafe & Diner,  you can celebrate the decade-versary of “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” by eating foods that have appeared in the scenes of the films mentioned, as well as others that have been themed appropriately, such as a Kari Kenji mango smoothie from “Summer Wars.” See it unfold starting July 7.

Details: http://otakumode.com/news/575e28c7f18142007f19ee60

Credits: http://artaquarium.jp/en/

The Exhibition We’ve Become All-Too-Familiar is Back Again This Year

Launching their exhibit back in 2011, the Art Aquarium will be celebrating their 5th year this year, starting their round 5 exhibit from July 8th all the way through the rainy season, up until Sept. 25. Packing 5,000 goldfishes lit with LED lights and sheltered in varying shaped vessels, this exhibit has left every visitor in awe — so much so that they now offer packaged tours that come with a ticket to this exhibit + a bullet train ride. The beginning of goldfish and Japan was during the Muromachi period, with the red streaked little one being brought all the way from China. Although at the time, it was considered a pet that only the upper class could house, with the abundance it had been met in the Edo period, it eventually got in reach of the commoners, becoming a go-to pet during the times. It was also during this time that they widely implemented breed improvement which is the reason why over 100 different breeds to goldfish exist as of now, with most of them with a maximum lifespan of 10 years, and sizes ranging anywhere between 2cm~30cm.

Details: http://artaquarium.jp/en/ (Facebook)

The weather doesn’t really matter once you’re a little intoxicated — true story.

You gotta make this one quick because it’s happening this Friday — “Bcc：Holiday Mika Ninagawa × Atom™” is being held at CONTACT, known to be the successor to what was helmed as some of Tokyo’s best clubs: Air and Eleven. Dance away to the beats of the German legend, Atom™ as over 400 vivid street snaps by internationally-acclaimed photographer Mika Ninagawa get mapped out. The famed artist has been known for her striking usage of color, claiming the vivid filter as her own — fans have strongly tied the specific vividness to her art that now, it’s only a matter of an instant to tell whether Mika is the one behind a specific photograph or not. Widely known for her work on the film, “Sakuran,” as well as the AKB 48 music video “Heavy Rotation” — you’ll see what we’re talking about in seconds. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to catch her art with the German legend.

Details: http://www.contacttokyo.com/schedule/bcc-holiday/

Book worms take over, once and for all.

When’s a better season for book worms to snuggle in a comfy environment and just read, read, read? We’re happy to let you know that the lifelong dream of sleeping over at a library is finally coming true at this fairly new library hostel BOOK AND BED TOKYO. Although they candidly claim that they do not offer comfortable mattresses or fluffy pillows, one thing you can do here is dose off while reading your favorite book, which they regard the best way of falling asleep. Agree? Head over to Ikebukuro to get some quality bookworm’s-kind-of-sleep here.

Details: http://bookandbedtokyo.com/en/

So what’s your choice? Quit complaining and get out (sorry, meant “in”)!