The Japanese have traditionally described their island country as being governed by the forces of mizu (water) -- what, with all this rain falling for what seems like 360 days of the year, but our grandmothers say kaze (wind) is the other ruling force that tends to be overlooked. Mizu will wash everything away or keep things afloat. Kaze, on the other hand, blows through and changes events and emotions.

The phrase kazamuki ga kawaru (a change in the wind) implies not just a change in situation but a loss of control and sense of resignation. Accordingly, people described as "kaze no yona hito (someone who's like the wind)" refers to those who goes off and disappears without notice and then returns just as suddenly, without any apparent reason. The wind carries them off, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Mizu, because it's visible, is easier to deal with. But kaze, being invisible, is mostly unpredictable.

Kaze, as used in the language, can be unpredictable, too. For example, the word fuzoku (sex trade, or more broadly, popular culture) is comprised of the characters kaze and "netherworld." But fuki, made up of kaze and "nation," means "moralistic atmosphere." The Japanese are especially sensitive to the disruption of fuki, even when the fuki in question may be the one inside a fuzoku shop in Kabukicho. Every time there's a police crackdown in a fuzoku district, the process is referred to as "fuki no midare wo torishimaru (disciplining or correcting the disruption of moralistic atmosphere)."