How to Read “When it clears up at the hour of the sheep, take off your rain gear in the rain”
Hitsuji no toki ni haruru wa ame ni wa mino kasa wo nugu
Meaning of “When it clears up at the hour of the sheep, take off your rain gear in the rain”
This proverb expresses a weather-related rule of thumb. If rain stops around 2 PM, it’s unlikely to rain again that day. So you can safely take off your rain gear.
The saying is based on careful observation. When morning rain clears up during the hour of the sheep (around 2 PM), it probably won’t rain again that day.
Therefore, there’s no need to keep wearing heavy straw raincoats and hats. You can take them off.
People used this proverb when they needed to judge weather changes and decide their actions. It was especially useful for outdoor work or travel.
Workers had to decide whether to keep carrying rain gear or lighten their load. This saying provided practical guidance.
Today we use different clocks and don’t wear straw raincoats anymore. But the core wisdom remains unchanged.
Natural phenomena follow certain patterns. Experience-based predictions are possible. This is the knowledge the proverb teaches us.
Origin and Etymology
No clear written records explain the origin of this proverb. However, the structure of the phrase reveals interesting background information.
“The hour of the sheep” refers to a time-telling system used until the Edo period. It indicates roughly 1 PM to 3 PM in modern time.
The day was divided into twelve sections using the zodiac animals. This time system came from China and became widely established in Japan.
This proverb likely emerged from agricultural life in Japan. Straw raincoats and hats were essential tools for farm work.
But when wet, they became heavy and difficult to move in. Deciding when to remove rain gear was crucial. This judgment directly affected work efficiency.
The phenomenon of rain stopping around 2 PM comes from observing weather patterns. When morning rain stops after midday, the weather tends to improve afterward.
Our ancestors learned this through years of experience. Without scientific weather forecasts, people predicted weather by combining multiple factors.
They watched the sky, observed rainfall patterns, and noted the time of day. This proverb condenses such life wisdom into words.
Usage Examples
- The rain stopped at 2 PM. “When it clears up at the hour of the sheep, take off your rain gear in the rain,” they say. I’ll leave my umbrella here.
- It’s clearing up after noon. “When it clears up at the hour of the sheep, take off your rain gear in the rain,” so it probably won’t rain again today.
Universal Wisdom
This proverb has been passed down because it addresses a fundamental human desire. We want to predict the uncertain future, even just a little.
When rain stops, two feelings arise in our hearts. One is the desire for freedom—we want to remove our rain gear and feel light.
The other is anxiety—it might start raining again. This conflict is essentially the same psychology that makes modern people check weather apps repeatedly.
Our ancestors faced this anxiety and focused on an objective indicator: time. They tried to reduce decision-making confusion by setting a specific time standard rather than relying on feelings or moods.
This shows the brilliance of human wisdom.
Thinking more deeply, this proverb teaches the importance of “timing for letting go.” If you keep wearing protective rain gear, your movements become sluggish.
Having the courage to let go at the right time matters. This applies not just to physical rain gear but to various situations in life.
For humans living with uncertainty, having judgment criteria based on experience becomes a source of confidence and action. This proverb embodies such universal human wisdom in a concrete everyday situation.
When AI Hears This
The psychology of people who don’t remove rain gear even after it clears at 2 PM involves three biases explained by behavioral economics.
First is the loss aversion problem. According to prospect theory, humans feel “the pain of losing” about twice as strongly as “the joy of gaining” for the same value.
The effort of putting on the raincoat is already a paid cost. But taking it off feels like that effort was wasted.
It’s like staying until the end of a boring movie because “the ticket price would be wasted.” Rationally, you’d gain more by taking it off and moving freely when it’s clear.
Yet people continue irrational behavior trying to recover past investments.
Additionally, distorted probability perception comes into play. Humans tend to overestimate low-probability events.
Even when it clears in the afternoon, they overvalue the possibility “it might rain again.” The actual precipitation probability might be around 5 percent, but it feels like 30 percent.
Many people over-insure for the same reason.
Finally, the endowment effect works. Once you wear the raincoat, it feels like “part of yourself.” Taking it off seems like a loss.
In other words, the irrational behavior this proverb describes results from three cognitive biases operating simultaneously in the human brain.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches us the importance of having judgment criteria based on experience.
We face countless small decisions daily. Should I bring an umbrella? Should I wear a jacket? Should I finish this work now or leave it for tomorrow?
Each decision seems trivial. But their accumulation shapes our lives.
This proverb shows the value of having your own judgment standards. Just as it used the specific time of 2 PM as a criterion, you can develop your own guidelines learned from experience.
It might be about how to approach work. Or it might be about maintaining distance in relationships.
At the same time, this proverb teaches “the courage to let go.” Taking off rain gear means releasing protection. Of course there are risks.
But if you always carry heavy baggage, you can’t move freely. By letting go of unnecessary things at the right time, we can live more freely and efficiently.
Your life surely has its own “hour of the sheep.” Let’s cultivate the eye to recognize that moment.
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