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While rainy season 2026 has not officially ended in the Kanto area just yet, the summer highs we are experiencing this week indicate it’s very much on its way out. While I have felt a lot of frustration with rainy season in the past, I have been quite grateful for it this year. This is mostly to do with the weather over the last 6-12 months. Summer 2025 was brutal and the rainy season that preceded it was basically a non-event here in Chiba. We had very hot days before June had even fully passed. To have had as many days with tolerable temperatures as we have this year feels like a gift. Then there was winter 2025-26, which was very dry here. Yes, we had snow, but there was barely any precipitation besides that. Wet shoes and endlessly lugging umbrellas may not be fun, but we definitely needed the rainfall that we got. All in all, a normal, even slightly prolonged rainy season has been a thing to welcome this year. As the heat alerts start popping up on my phone and the temperature on second story of my house turns oven-like, I’m particularly sorry to see it go. Here’s to hoping (probably in vain!) that this year’s summer is not too awful, and that next year’s rainy season similarly goes to plan!