Gallery - Ajisai (hydrangea) at Hakusan Shrine, Tokyo

Tokyo and the Kanto Koshin region of Japan, extending west as far as Nagano Prefecture, woke up on Monday morning to the first day of rainy season 2022 for the region, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. A June 6 start for the rainy season, known as “tsuyu” in Japan,” is one day earlier than the June 7 regional average and over a week earlier than the first day of the rainy season for the region last year, which fell on June 14. That nature has seen fit to kick off the season of gray skies and all-encompassing damp on a Monday for two years in a row now, probably hasn’t gone unnoticed by many a weary commuter. While the season is in its infancy in Kanto Koshin - ending on average around July 19 - the islands of Okinawa Prefecture saw the clouds roll in and the rains start to fall over a month ago on May 4, nearly a week earlier than the regional average rainy season start. At the time of writing only three regions of Japan have entered the rainy season in 2022 - Kanto Koshin, Okinawa, and Amami. While Okinawa and Amami are typically early entrants into the season, it’s something of a rarity for Tokyo and the Kanto Koshin region to make an earlier start than regions on the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku in southwestern Japan. The last time Kanto Koshin entered the rainy season earlier than both Kyushu and Shikoku was in 2005, according to the meteorological agency. Tohoku Hokubu (northern Tohoku) is typically bringing up the rear when it comes to the rainy season, seeing an average start around June 15. It feels chilly here in Kanto, too. We spent the weekend in shorts and t-shirt and today in jogging bottoms and a light sweater. On the TV a reporter standing outside Tokyo’s Shimbashi Station - default reporting location for news crews looking to snag a weary office worker for comment - told audiences of workers huddling over steaming hot bowls of soba for lunch. It all paints a bit of a grim picture for the coming weeks, and we dare say that many people will feel that even worse is yet to come - summer. In truth though, the rainy season is rarely as unrelenting as the doomsday soothsayer might like to revel in. The sun does come out from time to time (putting aside a particularly long and testing 52-day stretch of gray that camped out above the Kanto region in 2019). And Japan’s summer feels glorious in the mountains and for about five minutes while taking a dip in the sea. Besides, there's plenty of advice and wisdom to be found on City-Cost about getting through (even enjoying) the season. Here are some seasonal posts, past and recent, to get you started: Rainy Season: Tips, advice, hacks Managing rainy season migraines Rainy Season Housekeeping Traditional Medicine for the Rainy Season Remember the Sun and Carry a Cute Umbrella How to enjoy the rainy season in Japan 7 Practical Rainy Season Fashion Tips Respite from Japan’s rainy-season grays can also be sought in the soft colors of hydrangea, or “ajisai,” whose flowers love the season more than most, coming into peak bloom in June. Last week we had the chance to go to Tokyo's Bunkyo ward where the grounds of Hakusan Shrine are a favored spot for basking in the blossoms of the ajisai. Hakusan Shrine is the setting for the Bunkyo Ajisai Matsuri Festival later in June during which approximately 3,000 blooming hydrangeas can be seen. Ahead of the rainy season and under bright late-afternoon skies, the flowers of the shrine’s hydrangea, many already in full bloom, appeared to glow - swaying bulbs of pastel on a sea of bright green. It was all very photogenic and will perhaps be even more so now that the rainy season clouds have rolled in to accentuate the colors of the flowers. Even if the sun doesn’t shine, the ajisai surely do.