How to Say ‘Rain’ in Japanese

What better to do on a rainy day than learn some new vocabulary?

If we were to really dive deep, we could discuss the hundred-odd of ways to describe rain. Ranging from light to heavy rain, morning to evening rain or even winter to summer rain.

I know, when it rains, it pours!

But don’t worry, in this post, we are going to keep it nice and simple. We will go through the basics from ‘rain’ to ‘rainbow’, and ensure that you have all the knowledge necessary to save for a rainy day!

How to say ‘rain’ in Japanese

Ame

雨

Rain

The Japanese term for ‘rain’ is ame (雨 / あめ). If you look at the kanji character itself, 雨, it kind of looks like rainfall through a window pane! 

Ame is also the Japanese word for ‘candy’ or ‘sweets’. When reading, you will notice that the kanji differs (飴 = sweets) and while speaking you may hear the difference. The ame for ‘rain’ employs a downwards inflection, putting emphasis on the a sound, while the ame for ‘sweets’ puts a high pitch accent on the me part.

Though, unless it starts raining candy, you can usually tell the difference based on the context of the sentence! 

Ame ga furu 

雨が降る

Raining

Ame ga furu (雨が降る / あめがふる) is the plain present tense of the verb ‘to rain’. 

If you want to say ‘it rains’ (plain present tense) or ‘it will rain’ (future tense), use ame ga furu.

If you want to express ‘it is raining’ (currently), you should use the present continuous tense: ame ga futteiru (雨が降っている / あめがふっている). The present continuous tense describes verbs that are happening right now. 

Kosame 

小雨

Light rain

Kosame (小雨 / こさめ) combines the kanji for small (小) and the kanji for rain (雨) to mean ‘light rain’. 

Ooame

大雨

Heavy rain

On the flip side, to say ‘heavy rain’ in Japanese, we instead use kanji for big (大) in front of the kanji for rain, resulting in ooame (大雨 / おおあめ).

These terms are quite easy to remember due to their simplicity, and so they are an excellent way to elevate your Japanese!

Shito shito

しとしと

The sound of light rain

Japanese people love to use onomatopoeia! Almost everything has an onomatopoeic counterpart. Including, of course, rain! In fact, there are various mimetic words than can be used depending on the particular type of rainfall.

Shito shito (しとしと) describes a more gentle rain or drizzle, a calming sound.

Zaa zaa

ザーザー

The sound of heavy rain 

Zaazaa (ザーザー / ざーざー) represents a very heavy rain. Next time you witness a heavy rain shower, see if you can hear the zaazaa sound that inspired this onomatopoeic phrase!

Potsu potsu

ポツポツ

Drip drop

Potsu potsu (ポツポツ / ぽつぽつ) describes the pitter patter of rain drops which lightly fall from the sky, either before or after a larger rain shower.

Doshaburi

土砂降り

Downpour

Doshaburi (土砂降り / どしゃぶり) is a word that also means heavy rain, but to a greater extent. It depicts what we may call a ‘downpour’ in English. Think of the phrase ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’! 

Tsuyu

梅雨

Rainy season

Japan refer to their ‘rainy season’ as tsuyu (梅雨 / つゆ). Tsuyu in Japan takes place around the beginning of June to mid July.

If you find yourself in Japan during tsuyu, below are some rainy words that you will need to know!

Other rain related words in Japanese

Ama gumo

雨雲

Rain cloud

What happens when you combine the kanji for rain (雨) and cloud (雲) ? You will, of course, be left with the word —raincloud, or ama gumo (雨雲 / あまぐも)! So, when you see an ama gumo approaching, be sure to get your umbrella ready!

Kasa

傘

Umbrella

Kasa (傘 / かさ) is ‘umbrella’ in Japanese. If you look at the kanji character, it quite resembles an umbrella! 

You may notice that a rainy day is not the only time you will see umbrellas being sported in Japan. During the blazing heat of the Japanese summer, some people (predominantly women) use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun rays. 

Rein cooto 

レインコート

Raincoat

Along with a kasa, you may need a reincooto (レインコート / れいんこーと). This term is easy to remember as it is borrowed from the English ‘rain coat’. 

Niji

虹

Rainbow

Sometimes rain can really put a damper on things. That being said, rain is not all bad! One of the reasons being that rain is partly responsible for the beautiful multicoloured phenomenon, the ‘rainbow’.

‘Rainbow’ in Japanese is niji (虹 / にじ).

Teru teru bouzu

てるてる坊主

Paper doll to pray for fine weather

Teru teru bouzu (てるてる坊主 / てるてるぼうず) are traditional hand made white dolls which are hung outside the house to (hopefully) bring about sunny weather. It is a fun craft which is great for entertaining children on a rainy day! 

They are made using two pieces of tissue. One is rolled into a ball and the other covers the ball. A string is tied as the base of the ball, making a head shape while the second tissue falls as the body. The string is then used to hang up the figurine. 

Teru teru comes from the verb teru (照る) which means ‘to shine’ while bouzu (坊主) is the term for ‘monk’. When the wish comes true and the sun comes out, the monk’s bald head will shine in the sunlight!

Conclusion

Now you know all the ways to talk about rain in Japanese, from the standard word ame to a huge downpour!

For more practical, everyday Japanese words, our top recommended online course is JapanesePod101. You can join for free!

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Hannah Stafford

Hannah is a half Irish/half Japanese girl living in Ireland. Her love for Japan and the Japanese language led her to studying languages and translation in university where she specialised in Japanese. She spent a year studying abroad at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. In her free time, Hannah enjoys using her sewing machine to upcycle clothes and create new pieces!