Tsuyu (rainy season) has begun in Japan, this usually lasts from the beginning of June to mid-July, while it affects the islands of Okinawa about one month earlier. The wet weather is caused by cold winds from the north colliding wind warm southern winds which create several weeks of rain. Only Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido and the Ogasawara Islands get less affected by the rainy season. But “rainy season” does not mean that it is constantly raining. It will rain a few times during the day and night, sometimes all day but generally, depending on the year, it rains occasionally.

Japan’s 24 hour convenience stores (Lawson’s, Family Mart, 7/11, etc.) carry everything you need for emergencies and the rest can be found in supermarkets, department stores, ¥100 stores, etc. These supplies include umbrellas, rain jackets, socks, dry towels, cooling sheets, cooling spray, mosquito repellant and bite relief, shoe deodorizers, body deodorizers, room humidifiers, and a host of products you couldn't possibly know you needed until you try them.

Many people dislike rainy season because of the inconvenience but the flowers and trees are all very beautiful! It is a wonderful time to visit nature! The hydrangea are still in full bloom as they bloom from April – June, one of the longest lasting blossoms in the country.

This is also when the Iris are in full bloom! It seems purple, blue, pink, and white flowers love Rainy Season.

The city lights are also especially lovely during this time. The rain on the streets reflect the lights so beautifully and many people go out to take photos of this.

Rainy season is another time to visit nature and temples. There are beautiful Moss Gardens and Moss Temples all over Japan. One famous temple in Kyoto is Koinzan Saiho-ji. There are 120 varieties of moss present in the two-tiered garden, the temple is often referred to as koke-dera, meaning “moss temple.”. You begin by going to the temple where the monks bring you into the hall and you are given a calligraphy set. The monks then talk to you about the history of the temple, the moss, and meditation. You then participate in Zen meditation and chant sutras with the monks and other guests. Finally, you write your prayer, name and address on a small wooden plank and place it on the table. From there you follow the path and view the moss. Rainy season is our favorite time for this because the moss looks like a soft green carpet. It’s like stepping into a dream.

Another beautiful place to visit during Tsuyu is Yakushima Island. It is covered by an extensive cedar forest that contains some of Japan's oldest living trees. Trees more than 1000 years old are affectionately called yakusugi (a combination of Yakushima and sugi, the Japanese word for cedar), the most ancient of which may be over 7000 years old. In Japan we consider old trees to be gods. In Yakushima there are many god trees. Many places in Yakushima were declared, “Natural World Heritage Site” in 1993.

The island was also used as inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki’s film, “Princess Mononoke” or “Mononoke Hime” in Japanese.

Yakushima is also famous for turtle watching as it is the main North Pacific nesting site. Turtle-watching eco tours are available throughout the summer months – in early summer you can witness the egg-laying process, while in late summer thousands of hatchlings make their way into the sea. Female turtles will return to the place they were born – some 25 to 30 years prior – on Yakushima every year between May and August.

The food in Yakushima is delicious and organic. It is difficult to find JAS (organic mark for Japanese food on the main islands) because the land that is inhabited by humans in Japan is door to door. Even if your farm is organic, if the grandmother who lives next door sprays pesticides on her roses, the wind will take particles to your farm and you will not be JAS approved.

Since Yakuishima is an island, this is not a problem and you will find a variety of delicious organic vegetables, fruits, and tea.

Yakushima is famous for ponkan and tankan, both varieties of the orange family and delicious! They make many products using these oranges.

The most popular fish in Yakushima is flying fish called tobio (トビウオ), but the local word for them is toppy. The flying fish in Japan are caught year-round, but the peak fishing season is from late spring to early summer. Flying fish are served as sashimi, salt grilled or deep fried with their wings fried and crispy.

Another popular fish is mackerel (saba) which can be eaten as sashimi or sushi. However, it’s also a fish that spoils quickly, so to preserve it, fishermen break the fish’s neck as soon as it’s caught – this is called ‘broken-necked mackerel’ (kubi ore saba) which is a Yakushima delicacy commonly eaten as sashimi.

Yakushima is also famous for its two unique seaside hot springs: Yudomari and Hirauchi, which is only accessible at low tide.

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We hope you can visit Yakushima!

MocT

Probably the Best sweat-wear brand in the world! The brand name stands for: mix / original / comfortable / technical.

MocT is a brand by Shin internal cotton co., Ltd, which has challenged and developed textiles which are considered difficult to blend dyed cotton and different materials, etc. Interweaving the challenging spirit inherited to the cultivated technology Interworking sense of Trust & Luxury. They aim to become the world's leading royal road brand offering continuity at a reasonable price and send new products to the world to lead people to a better quality of life. Various threads and textiles were born in the course of "GR 7" becoming standard.

The combination has infinite possibilities "mocT" freely chooses threads separately to create completely new standards It is cultivated in 130 years. To sublime technology and experience to a new "comfortable " is the role of "mocT" to propose utility items.

GR7 Explained:

Birth of the first domestic yarn in domestic production 50 Years named "GR 7". has long been loved as a gray standard in Japan. Various brands have been made in different forms and to everyone The "GR 7" that arrived will be born as a new brand under the name of "mocT" at this time. They aim to become a brand that brings together the cultivated technology and reaches the middle of the heart of people to wear everyday.

About Japanese Loop Wheeling:

All the essential “mocT” collections are made from the premium quality of yarns, which are produced only by the Japanese traditional loop wheel machines from 50's.

These loop wheel knitting machines are used to be the main machine types in the Japanese market, back in 1960, for the making of yarns. But due to the key drawback from their rotation speed and the efficiency, these traditional machines types were soon replaced by the new generation ones.

Although these traditional loop wheel machines are much slower compared to the newly developed types, the outstanding quality that they could provide for the making of yarns is wonderful.

The traditional loop wheel machines could knit only one meter of fabric in an hour, which was 10 to 20 times slower, compared to the new generation machines. However, the much lower rotation speed, allows a full trace on the spinning process, which greatly ensures a near-perfect quality control during the whole manufacturing procedure of the yarn fabrics. And most importantly, this natural structure minimizes all the possible tensions from pulling, applied onto the thread while rotating, and it ensures also a full and smooth immersion of air into the cotton on the way, in order to obtain a final warm and soft texture for the fabric.

As a result, through these traditional Japanese loop wheel machines, the original softness of cotton could be greatly maintained during the entire knitting process, undoubtedly way beyond the measure while in comparison to what the modern knitting machine types could ever provide.

Please visit Bows & Arrows to find our selection of MocT products or visit our online store here.