「The Fox's Wedding・狐の嫁入り」
Starting next month the rainy season (tsuyu・梅雨) will be in full swing, but even now one can feel the changes in the air. From late last night there was a pleasant drizzle that lasted until this afternoon. On this morning's walk to work I was fortunate enough to see some nice sunshowers. It reminded me of the weather around Galway Bay and plucked my heart strings. Even in this drizzle the Japanese rely on umbrellas...the way they avoid even the slightest drizzle makes one think they are made of sugar and would dissolve after the smallest rain drop falls on their head.
"When rain falls from a blue sky, in the Hour of the Horse, the Great Fox King takes his bride" - Masaoka Shiki, Meiji Period poet
In Japan, when the sun shines through rain, the foxes (the shape-shifting tricksters of Japanese folklore) hold their weddings. In Japanese, it is known as 「kitsune no yomeiri・狐の嫁入り」, and when translated means the "fox's bride taking." As pretty as these may be to watch, they are bad luck as the viewer will be entangled by the fox's magic powers and bad things will follow. Thus, when this weather happens, parents often tell their children to play indoors to avoid seeing these weddings (perhaps just a way to keep kids inside so they don't catch a cold).
There are quite a few depictions of this even in Japanese art and media, one of my favorites was brought to the silver screen in the 1990 picture called, "Dreams" by Akira Kurosawa (link below to watch part of it).