This year's rainy season is believed to have begun in the Kanto-Koshin region, which includes Tokyo, as well as the Tokai and Kinki regions, the Meteorological Agency said Friday.
The start of the rainy season was declared 14 days later than the average year and 13 days later than last year in Kanto-Koshin, and 15 days later than the average year and 23 days later than last year in both Tokai and Kinki.
Meanwhile, the agency said on Thursday that the rainy season had ended in the Okinawa region, one day earlier than the average year and five days earlier than last year.
On Friday, the southern part of the Kyushu region was hit by heavy rain due to an active seasonal rain front. The agency said a linear precipitation zone, a band of cumulonimbus cloud that causes very heavy rain, formed in Kagoshima Prefecture in the morning.