https://magazine.catapult.co/column/stories/column-tokyo-journal-summer-in-tokyo-rain-women-cicadas-visits-from-the-dead
Before I came to Japan, I thought rain was just rain. I’ve since learned there’s shito-shito ame, a light, quiet rain—not to be confused with shobo-shobo, also a light, quiet rain, but in a slightly negative sense. Zaa-zaa is a torrential downpour, potsu-potsu is scattered drops when it’s starting to rain, and bota-bota is heavy drops as rain begins to fall.
If it starts raining while the sun is shining, that’s kitsune no yomeiri—a “fox’s wedding”—because the fox, a trickster, is associated with curious events. Ame onna, “rain woman,” is a woman who seems to bring rain wherever she goes. Aiai-gasa, “love-love umbrella,” means two people sharing an umbrella, a couple in love.
