People forget that Japan has five seasons. That’s right, I’m talking about the rainy season, known as tsuyu in Japanese, typically from early June to mid-July.

Before the blistering heat of summer in Japan, we must survive the high humidity of the rainy season.

If not for this fifth season, perhaps Japanese wouldn’t have so many words like beta beta and jime jime to describe the unpleasantly sticky feeling of sweaty skin.

Okay, you probably get it. The rainy season is uncomfortable and depressing and no one likes it… well surely someone must, but that’s not the point…

The point is I’ve got a beautiful image to cheer up your rainy season blues.

Kyoto’s Umbrella Sky

At the beginning of July, photographer Yukari Mitani (@mitsuyuka_lp) visited Kitaoji Vivre, a shopping mall in Northern Kyoto City near Kamogawa River.

She was bedazzled by a scene of some 300 umbrellas hanging in the mall’s atrium. She shared the scene on Twitter.

Colorful umbrellas hang midair, transforming an overcast sky into a multi-colored spectacle.

Do you ever have those moments during rainy weather where everything seems to come into crystal clear focus and everything seems a bit surreal? I wonder if Mitani-san felt something similar.

Public Reaction

Mitani-san’s post was a big hit, gaining more than 199,000 likes in less than a week!

Many praised the colorful scene as well:

Certainly umbrellas are usually reserved for rainy days (though let’s not forget about Japanese and their sunbrellas), but here is an instance of the mundane becoming fantastic.

Now that it’s mid-July, summer is almost upon us Just the other day I could hear the cicadas’ song in the morning.

Mitani-san’s photo reminds us there’s beauty to be found everywhere.

And speaking of beauty, check out Mitani-san’s Twitter account for more beautiful images like these summery scenes below: