The East Asian rainy season (Chinese: méiyǔ; ; literally plum rain; ) is the frontal precipitation caused by a front, a persistent east-west zone of disturbed weather during spring which is quasi-stationary and stretches from the east China coast, across Taiwan, and eastward into the southern peninsula of South Korea and Japan. The rainy season usually lasts from June to July (approximately 50 days) in Japan and Korea and from July to August in Eastern China (especially the Chang Jiang and Huai He regions) and in Taiwan.
The weather front forms when the moist air over the Pacific meets the cooler continental air mass. The front and the formation of frontal depressions along it brings precipitation to Japan, Korea, eastern China, and Taiwan. As the front moves back and forth depending on the strength of cool and warm air masses, there is often prolonged precipitation and sometimes flooding in eastern China. However, in the years that it does not rain as much as usual, a drought might result. The rainy season ends when the warm air mass associated with the subtropical ridge is strong enough to push the front north and away.
The rains in the middle of November - Early December are often called Sazanka Tsuyu, literally "rainy season of the Camellia" on account of the timing with the blossoming of the seasonal flower.
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