(Illustration by Yukiyo Oda/Stripes Japan)
The rainy season in Japan is cheerily referred to as “tsuyu,” or plum rain, as it coincides with the seasonal ripening of this luscious fruit. Constant gray skies and gloomy showers can only mean one thing. The rainy season starts to fall on Okinawa in late May followed by mainland Japan and Kyushu Island in early June.
![Inu/Ken [dog in Japanese kanji character]](https://japan.stripes.com/travel/5zqe5d-inu.jpg/alternates/FREE_350/Inu.JPG)
Inu/Ken [dog] (Image by Stripes Japan)
