So in Japan, umbrellas are everywhere. Cheap ones, stylish ones, lace ones for sun, plastic see-through ones at every convenience store.

Everyone has a big bin of umbrellas in their entranceway. All the businesses have umbrella bins or lockable umbrella stands (seem weird? not really. I've had many an umbrella stolen in japan. It seems that they are considered communal property).

You see people riding bicycles holding umbrellas. You see high school students riding double on bicycles holding two umbrellas.

But not in the Pacific Northwest. I remember visiting my brother in Seattle and being called a 'wimp' for using an umbrella to shield my baby daughter from the parking lot into a store. And Naoto has observed that Portlanders are similar. You see people in hoodless jackets just sauntering around in the rain, serious nonchalance on their face despite being soaked. Maybe it's some kind of tough guy thing, or maybe it's more like "if I don't react to this rain, it doesn't really count".

Last Tuesday morning, as we drove to Naoto's work, we once again were commenting on the lack of umbrellas. Just as we passed a corner, we both spotten a man holding an umbrella. I said "well, I guess we're wrong, there's a guy with an umbrella." Then the guy adjusted his umbrella and we both looked at his face. Then simultaneously we both burst into laughter.

The guy was Asian.