Read a Japanese weather forecast: 晴 曇 暑

On a Japanese weather app, 晴 (hare) means sunny, 曇 (kumori) means cloudy and 暑い (atsui) means hot. Each of the three kanji has the sun, 日, inside it: 晴 is the sun next to 青, blue, 曇 is the sun above 雲, cloud, and 暑 is the sun above 者, a person. Look at what’s beside the sun and you know which one you’re reading.

What the kanji say

晴 (hare, sei) is clear, sunny weather. The sun, 日, is on the left, and 青 (ao), blue, is on the right: a blue sky with the sun out. 晴れ (hare) is a sunny day, and 晴れる (hareru) means to clear up.

曇 (kumori, don) is cloudy. The sun sits on top of 雲 (kumo), a cloud, so you can read it as the sun behind the clouds. 曇り (kumori) is cloudy weather, and 曇る (kumoru) means to cloud over. It’s also what glasses do when you walk in from the cold: they fog up.

暑 (atsui, sho) is hot, for the weather. The sun is on top again, over 者, which in Japanese means a person (mono). 暑い (atsui) is hot, and 暑さ (atsusa) is the heat.

Where they really come from

Only one of the three pictures is the real history.

曇 is what it looks like. Chinese dictionaries explain it as 日 and 雲 put together for their meaning: the sun behind the clouds.

晴 and 暑 are built another way. In each, 日 gives the meaning, and the other half is there mainly for its sound. 青 was picked because it sounded like 晴, and you can still hear it in Japanese, where both are read sei. 者 was picked for 暑 in the same way, at a time when the two sounded much closer in Chinese than they do now. The Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary from around 100 CE, describes 暑 as 日 with 者 for the sound.

So “the sun beating down on a person” is a memory aid rather than history. It’s a good one, though, and so is the blue sky in 晴.

How to read the forecast

Weather apps and websites often squeeze the words down to bare kanji: 晴 for 晴れ, 曇 for 曇り and 雨 for rain. Between them you’ll see three small words, which the Japan Meteorological Agency defines precisely:

• のち (nochi), “later”: the weather changes partway through. 晴のち曇 is sunny, then cloudy.
• 時々 (tokidoki), “sometimes”: on and off, for less than half of the time. 曇時々雨 is cloudy with rain on and off.
• 一時 (ichiji), “for a while”: one unbroken spell, shorter than a quarter of the time. 曇り一時雨 is cloudy with a spell of rain.

How to use it

• 明日は晴れるといいね。

  Ashita wa hareru to ii ne.

  I hope it's sunny tomorrow.

• 空が曇ってきた。

  Sora ga kumotte kita.

  The sky's clouding over.

• 今日は曇りのち雨だって。

  Kyou wa kumori nochi ame datte.

  Apparently it'll be cloudy today, with rain later.

• 暑いですね。

  Atsui desu ne.

  Hot, isn't it?

• 暑さに気をつけてください。

  Atsusa ni ki o tsukete kudasai.

  Take care in the heat.

• Hot weather is 暑い, hot things are 熱い. Both are read atsui. 暑い is for the air and the day; 熱い, with 熱 (netsu), heat or fever, is for things you touch, like tea or a bath. A third atsui, 厚い, means thick.
• Cold works the same way. 寒い (samui) is cold weather, and 冷たい (tsumetai) is cold to the touch.
• 暑いですね is everyday small talk all summer, with neighbours, colleagues and shop staff.
• Two words from summer forecasts: a 真夏日 (manatsubi) is a day that reaches 30°C, and a 猛暑日 (moushobi) is one that reaches 35°C.

Words with the same kanji

Remember it

Three suns: one in a blue sky (晴), one behind a cloud (曇), and one beating down on someone’s head (暑). Check what’s beside the 日 and you’ll know whether to pack sunglasses, a jacket or a fan.

The kanji in this lesson

Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Sources

• Wiktionary: 晴 (glyph origin)
• Dong Chinese: 暑
• Dong Chinese: 曇
• Japan Meteorological Agency: forecast terms (時々, 一時, のち)

Written by the Chirami team with the help of AI, then checked against JMdict and KANJIDIC2. How we write lessons. Spotted a mistake? Email support@brightsmilesolutions.org.