Samidare (五月雨 - Early Summer Rain)

Jun 19, 2021 13:47
Samidare

The rainy season, known as 'tsuyu' (梅雨) in Japan, has begun nationwide.

The light rain that lasts for a long term in this season is referred to as 'samidare' (五月雨) in Japanese.

'Sa' (さ) means "god of fields" and 'midare' (みだれ), which is also written as 水垂れ (literally meaning "water dropping") and means "rain."

In other words, this term implies that rain in the rainy season is no less a blessing for farmers who grow crops.

Incidentally, the Chinese characters for 'samidare' is 五月雨, the literal meaning of which is "May rain."

Since the month here is the lunar calendar, "May" corresponds to around the middle of June in the current calendar.
五月雨

日本は現在、全国的に「梅雨」となっています。

梅雨の時期に続く小雨のことを、「五月雨」といいます。

「さ」は「田の神」を、「みだれ」は「水垂れ」とも書き「雨」を意味します。

五月雨は農夫にとって農作物を育てるのに重要な、まさに天からの恵みの雨というわけです。

ちなみに、さみだれの漢字「五月雨」の文字どおりの意味は "May rain" です。

ここで「五月」は旧暦のことで、現在の新暦でいう6月半ば頃に相当します。
No. 1 hakuame
  • Samidare (五月雨 - Early Summer Rain)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Samidare
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • The rainy season, known as 'tsuyu' (梅雨) in Japan, has begun nationwide.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • The light rain that lasts for a long term in this season is referred to as 'samidare' (五月雨) in Japanese.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • 'Sa' (さ) means "god of fields" and 'midare' (みだれ), which is also written as 水垂れ (literally meaning "water dropping") and means "rain."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • In other words, this term implies that rain in the rainy season is no less a blessing for farmers who grow crops.
  • In other words, this term implies that rain in the rainy season is no less a blessing for farmers who grow crops.
  • Incidentally, the Chinese characters for 'samidare' is 五月雨, the literal meaning of which is "May rain."
  • Incidentally, the Chinese characters for 'samidare' is 五月雨, the literal meaning of which is "Fifth month rain."

    should it be literally 5th month instead of May ?

  • Since the month here is the lunar calendar, "May" corresponds to around the middle of June in the current calendar.
  • Since the month here is the lunar calendar, "5th month" corresponds to around the middle of June in the current calendar.

    perhaps this maybe less confusing to read...

Toru
Thank you for the correction! :)
> should it be literally 5th month instead of May ?
You are probably right. I did divide 五月雨 into two nouns: 五月 (translated as May) and 雨, but if you divide 五月 further 五 and 月, its literal meaning would be "5th-month rain."