Japanese culture
 

Hi everyone

First post for me.Do the Japanese have a certain attraction for rain? Was watching a J drama (Beautiful Life,which is brilliant BTW) and the girl wouldn't meet the guy.Then she heard the rain and decided to go and meet him.... outside.Why would she do that and get wet! Does rain have a romantic connatation?:confused:

Thanks

Oh yes, Beautiful Life. You won't go wrong at all to finish it. Absolutely memorable.

We bought our own copy of it, but we must have seen it about 3 or 4 years ago now and I'm sorry that I don't precisely remember the scene you mention, so I would guess that there may have been something in the storyline to support her decision to do that.

On the other hand, meeting in the rain is very romantic, and it could have been exactly as you suggest; she wanted to give him her heart, and make sure he didn't go away with nothing to show for himself but a drenching.

Beautiful Life was the top-rated J-drama of the year 2000. Brilliant, as you say.

A popular Japanese name for girls is かすみ, 'Kasumi', which means 'mist'.

Oh yes, Beautiful Life was one of the top-rated J-dramas of all time. That's a top tv series and you won't go wrong at all to finish it.

We bought our own copy of it, but we must have seen it about 2 or 3 years ago now and I'm sorry that I don't precisely remember the scene you mention, so I would guess that there may have been something in the storyline to support her decision to do that.

To understand the symbilism of rain you would have to know how closely the traditional Asian culture is connected with nature and its phenomena. I would say it influences the mentality of Asian people even in those messed up modern times, well at least let us hope that it does...

Japanese language has a gazillion expressions describing rain itself its intensity and forms, proving what serious impact it has on culture and daily life.

We have大雨 (ooame – heavy rain), 梅雨 (tsuyu) – rainy season around June and July, lasting more or less one month. First kanji in 梅雨 stands for ume – a Japanese plum, that ripens during the same period contributing to its name. Ume is linked to shift of seasons and it is used quite often as a motif in calligraphy or sumi-e.

There is 春雨 (harusame) of which first kanji reads haru and means the spring. Harusame depicts gentle rain that falls during spring.

夕立 (yuudachi) is a violent evening rain or cloudburst accompanied by thunders during summer time. 通り雨 (tooriame) literally “passing rain,” sudden downpours of water that dissipate very quickly. The opposite of it is 長雨 (nagaame), long lasting and persistent rain, 台風 (taifuu – a typhoon), or 豪雨 (gouu) – torrential rains able to paralyse large cities for days.

Some expressions relate to personality of people, such as 雨女 or 雨男 (respectively: ameonna and ameotoko) – a woman or a man that brings rain - i.e. unlucky or jinxed. Though the original meaning of 雨女 was a "goddess of rain".

Other phrases refer to the state of the world after the rain 雨降って地固める – (ame futte ji katameru). After the rainfall earth is hardening and settling down becoming more fertile. Lastly 雨上がり (ameagari) “after the rain” reflecting on the freshness and relief felt in the air immediately after the rain stops.

Once, I wrote a calligraphy for a Japanese couple and their newborn daughter. Her name is 雨音 (Amane), which means "the sound of rain".

The list goes on.

It's at the end of the first episode, they meet at the cafe where they originaly went to eat Ramen.

Yes,I too got my own copy.Have watched it consistently.It's very funny,sad and ultimately inspiring.