Blame it on the Mountains

Those of you from Cincinnati know that we have a favorite phrase to describe the weather: if you don't like, wait five minutes. The whole idea is that the weather in Cincinnati is unpredictable, you're liable to have a day go from extremely cold to extremely hot. When I was younger, I thought that was a Cincinnati phrase that people in the US knew. Then as I got older and met people from different parts of the country, I found out Cincinnati wasn't famous for the phrase. In fact, I was shocked to hear someone from Colorado say, "We have a phrase in Colorado: if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." It seems that no matter where you live, you complain about the weather.

The case is the same over here in Japan where they manage to have long summers and long winters depending on what time of year you are talking to a Japanese person. However, one common phrase I hear is that the mountains are to blame for the extreme weather. In the winter everyone blames the mountain wind for how cold it is. In the summer they blame the mountains for keeping all of the hot air stagnant and just hot.

Now there is science to the weather effects of mountains, but here in Kyoto they act as if Kyoto is famous for having this kind of weather. However, I am more native to the Gunma area of Japan having worked there for most of my time in Japan. In Gunma, they always blamed Mt. Akagi for the cold winters and the hot summers. At that time, all of my friends who had spent time in Kyoto said that Kyoto is famous for its cold winters and hot summers because of the mountains. When I asked them about whether Gunma was famous, they asked me where Gunma was again.

When you have a mountainous terrain like Japan, granted the mountains will play a role in the weather from day-to-day, but no single region can really claim to be the only one affected. You might offend the entire population of Gunma.