Rainy season ideas: ⑥ wind chimes

Wind chimes are associated with summer more so than the rainy season in Japan. However, many of the wind chimes go up early in June, before the rainy season has even started. I personally think it is a better time for them as you can actually enjoy the sound of them chiming. I find the rainy season climate is better suited for two reasons:

The first reason is that July and August are so hot, but also so still. That is, little to no breeze or wind. I think it is rarer to get a windy day in the height of summer than in the rainy season. Hence, they don't have a great 'chime' on them from mid July. However, there is one time that there are windy days in the second half of summer, and that's when there is a typhoon. But that brings me to the second reason I prefer to see wind chimes early rather than later in summer; a lot of places actually take down their wind chimes before a typhoon hits. So you can't actually hear them at the theoretically best time for their chime!

There are many places you can see wind chimes in Japan. For many years it was mainly shrines and temples that had a large scale wind chime display. But nowadays you can find them in cafes, malls, parks and various other locations. The photo of the wind chimes in this post was taken at a park early in June this year. Have you seen a wind chime display yet this year?