Tsuyu. It's that wet and dismal time of year, the rainy season, when no matter what the skies look like, you have to prepare for the inevitable.
Some people, however, have actually been looking forward to this annual phenomenon. The umbrella industry obviously loves tsuyu since it brings the biggest sales of the year.
"June and July are by far the peak months for umbrella sales," says Norishige Okuda, a buyer for Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district. "We sell four to five times as much in this season compared to January or February."