It’s official! As of May 5, rainy season has started in Okinawa.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced the arrival of the tsuyu season in Okinawa and Amami Islands. This announcement came 11 days earlier than last year and five days earlier than normal.

The season is called Tsuyu, which means plum rain, as it coincides with the seasonal ripening of this luscious and sour fruit, according to one theory. Constant gray skies and gloomy showers can only mean one thing. The rainy season starts to fall on Okinawa followed by mainland Japan and Kyushu Island in early June. Cold northerly and warm southerly air masses collide to create 45 to 50 days of continuous dreary weather dropping anything from drizzle to torrential rain.

On average, the rainy season continues until mid to late June on the island.