Umbrellas

Japan has a very heavy monsoons season. During the monsoon season, it can rain a few inches every day. I went during the beginning of the monsoon season, so the rain wasn’t too bad but it still rained for a few days while we were there. Often it was a steady drizzle with thick humidity. Many people in Japan who have lived in Japan for a long time are used to it, and almost every Japanese person I saw had an umbrella. Many people had very cute, personalized umbrellas. One woman had a polka dotted umbrella with pink and white lace on the edges. A couple cuddled under a wide black umbrella with a white cat outlined along the top.

The most interesting phenomenon I saw was that many shops had umbrella stands that sold umbrellas for as cheap as 500 yen (a little less than $5). These umbrellas were clear, but very wide (pictured below). They weren’t disposable, but they weren’t the best quality. However, for less than $5 they were durable and worked perfectly. I’ve bought $10 umbrellas in America that were so flimsy they broke almost instantly when the wind blew. These cheap, clear umbrellas were very helpful in the rain, and they were wide enough to cover me and my backpack, which was nice because often umbrellas I’ve bought in America are too small for both. These umbrellas are very durable and strong despite being cheap. I bought two because I accidentally left my first one in the hotel room, but the first one I bought broke after a few days.

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