Finally, you can feel it in the air, it’s springtime 春だ (haru da). When I think of spring in Japan, I think of cherry blossom viewing 花見 (hanami). Talking about the weather 天気 (tenki) is an easy way to break the ice and start a conversation. So I thought I’d post some useful spring-related vocabulary and I will list some phrases to talk about the weather.

You can start a conversation by saying: 今日はいい天気ですね。(kyou wa ii tenki desu ne) – The weather is nice today, isn’t it. You can also say: 最近暑いですね (saikin atsui desu ne) – It’s been hot lately, don’t you think. You can confirm the statements by saying: そうですね (soudesu ne) – “You’re right” or “Yes, indeed”

Some other useful phrases are:

今日の天気予報はなんですか。(kyou no tenkiyohou ha nan desu ka) What’s the weather forecast for today.

今日の天気はどうですか。(kyou no tenki ha dou desu ka) How is the weather today?

雪/雨が降りそうです。(ame/yuki ga furisou desu) It looks like snow/rain.

気温は何度ですか。(kion ha nando desu ka) What is the temperature?

雨 (ame) rain

傘 (kasa) umbrella

雪 (yuki) snow

暖かいです (atatakai desu) It’s warm

暑いです(atsui desu)  It’s hot

蒸し暑いです(mushi atsui desu) It’s humid

晴れです (hare desu) It’s sunny

良い天気です(ii tenki desu) It’s nice

寒いです (samui desu) It’s cold

風が強いです(kaze ga tsuyoi desu) It’s windy

曇りです(kumori desu) It’s cloudy

ひどい雨です(hidoi ame desu) It’s terrible rainy weather

By adding the prefix とても (totemo) you can emphasize that it is very cold or very hot. For example:

とても寒いです(totemo samui desu) It’s very cold

とても暑いです(totemo atsui desu) It’s very hot

By adding the prefix 少し (sukoshi) you can emphasize that it is a little cold or a bit hot. For example:

少し寒いです(sukoshi samui desu) It’s a little cold.

少し暑いです(sukoshi atsui desu) It’s a little hot.

Since hanami 花見 is a very popular leisure activity in spring, the following vocabulary and phrases should be useful.

桜　(sakura) cherry blossom

桜前線 (sakura zensen) cherry blossom front (= the cherry blossom forecast)

伝統 (dentou)  tradition

咲く (saku)  to bloom

散る (chiru) to fall (flower petals)

花見弁当 (hanami bentou) bento for cherry blossom viewing

夜桜 (yozakura) hanami at night

つぼみ (tsubomi)  buds

満開 (mankai) full bloom

開花する (kaika suru) to bloom out

花見へ行こう！(hanami e ikou) Let’s go to hanami!

桜の木はとてもきれいです (sakura no ki wa totemo kireii desu)- The cherry blossom trees are very pretty.

桜の木の下に座る (sakura no ki no shita ni suwaru) – to sit under the cherry blossom tree