Japan is generally a rainy country with high humidity. Because of its wide range of latitude, Japan has a variety of climates. The Japanese islands are for the most part in the temperate zone, they stretch from north to south in latitudes similar to those of the eastern United States, from about 45 degrees in the north to about 20 in the south. The capital, Tôkyô, is in a similar position to Los Angeles or Washington in the United States

But latitude and longitude are not the only things that influence climate. Ocean currents, such as the Kuroshio and Tsushima currents from the south, warm the Pacific side of the islands and those near the Korean straits, especially toward the south, while the cold Kurile current, coming southward toward Hokkaidô, brings plentiful nourishment to the coastal waters and improves the fishing .
On the other hand, cold winds from the northern Asian continent blow east over the Sea of Japan, dumping deep, heavy snow on the northwestern coasts of Japan. There is a marked contrast between winters on the coast facing the Sea of Japan, called Japan's "snow country," where people often have to tunnel under the snow to move from house to house, and the clear, crisp winters on the eastern shore, with little snow at all, leaving dry winters on the more heavily populated side of the main islands.
Even on the eastern shores, however, Japan has abundant rainfall, since seasonal winds carry moisture into the country from its surrounding waters. In fact, in addition to the four seasons similar to those of our U.S. temperate zone climate, there is a rainy season, lasting about a month in June, followed by a hot summer. This is important for the cultivation of rice, Japan's traditional staple food. Japan has only little useful land for agriculture. Japan is very mountainous, which creates quite a few effects for the country. The mountains act in a good way because they act as natural barriers against foreign invasions. On the other hand, they make for poor agricultural land and Japan then therefore relies on fishing as their main food source. The island of Japan is the tops of the underwater mountain chain, so the geography makes Japan very hard to farm. Only about 20% of Japan is "farmable" so this forces Japanese to live by the sea, which encourages fishing and trade.

The climate there is often rainy, and partly cloudy which makes good farm soil, but once again only 20% of the land they can farm.