Umbrella

Do you carry umbrellas around ?

Living in Singapore and Malaysia, I have never carried umbrellas around because in tropical weather, any rain will not last for the whole day. All I needed to do was to stay in the shopping mall, have a cup of coffee by the time I got out, rain would be gone.

In Japan, it does not work like that and perhaps in many other countries. When it rains, it rains for hours. Most people carry umbrellas around and many stores have umberllas out on display on the rainy day. Even when it is not rainy cats and dogs, many people have umbrellas ready to go.

When I first arrived in Japan after many years living in tropical climate, it was quite strange to see people afraid to get wet when it is not rainy much. But many years have passed and I began to realize that little rain may be a sign of more rain to come.

Convenience stores sell very simple plastic umbrellas and they are very famous in Japan that you can find forgotten umbrellas that look alike. Some people buy these umbrella for suvenior because it is a common item found in Japan.