Nyūdō Gumo (入道雲 – Cumulonimbus Cloud)

Both

English

Japanese

I like ‘nyūdō gumo‘ (入道雲), which you can see in the summer sky.

私は夏の空に見ることができる「入道雲」が好きです。

Nyūdō gumo are huge and clear clouds like mountains that are made by rising air currents — which are called cumulonimbus clouds in English.

入道雲とは、上昇気流によって山のように立ち上がる、巨大で美しい雲のことです。

‘Nyūdō‘ (入道) is a traditional Japanese specter who has a shaven head, and ‘gumo/kumo‘ (雲) means “cloud.”

入道とは坊主頭の日本の妖怪のことで、雲は “cloud” を意味します。

This term was made by comparing this specter with the high cumulonimbus clouds.

雲が空高く盛り上がるようすをこの妖怪にたとえて、入道雲という言葉が生まれました。

Incidentally, nyūdō gumo is a slang term, and its official name in Japan is ‘sekiran un’ (積乱雲 – literally “piled and disordered clouds”).

ちなみにこの言葉は俗語であり、正式には「積乱雲」と言います。