The rainy season seems to have been cut short in Japan this year, but it's been replaced by an early summer heat wave, which has been keeping me indoors just as much as the rain! Thankfully, I have a variety of indoor hobbies that have been keeping me busy when the weather doesn’t want me to go out and explore. Check out my five favourites down below, and maybe you'll be inspired to try something new!

#1: Language Learning

I know, I know, it's the obvious answer on this website, but I'd be remiss to leave it out! On those days when you want to stay in the comfort of your own home, you're presented with the perfect opportunity to get some language practice in. That doesn’t have to mean signing up for a formal lesson, either! There are so many fun ways to engage with a foreign language in a more casual way.

One of my favourites is to stream a favourite TV show or movie, but change the audio language. Since I’m already familiar with the story, I understand the context even when I don’t understand every word. This helps me to get immersion practice without missing out on important plot points. There are also a vast number of podcasts these days, if you want to practice listening to people talk about something they’re passionate about.

Another great option is to pick up a book. While it might be difficult to just sit down with a novel in your second (or subsequent) language, there are so many great alternative options to help you along the way. Graphic novels, for example, provide enough context from imagery that the language isn’t as necessary to the story if you don’t fully understand. Even kids’ picture books can be a fun read, just to test your knowledge out. If fiction isn’t your thing, you can try out international news websites, to read about what’s going on in other parts of the world, or just scroll through foreign social media accounts and see what you can pick up.

And, of course, if you want to practice speaking, you can jump on Cafetalk and come say hi to me!

#2: Creative Crafts

One of my favourite things about artistic hobbies is that all you need is a little bit of space and equipment to jump in. If you have paper, you can fold origami. If you also have a pencil, you can draw. And if you have a pen or a computer, you can write! I’m a huge fan of arts in general, but writing has always been my forte. I have at least a dozen unfinished novels that I regularly go back to (and one day will finish... I hope), along with plenty of short stories I’ve written over the years. Even when I’m not physically writing, I’m usually working on something inside my head.

If you want to have a go at something creative, writing or drawing are super simple to get started with. If you want to draw, check out some basic tutorials online and see if you can copy along, or pick out an old photo you love and see how much of it you can replicate. If you want to write, pick a moment from your life and start telling the story like you would to a friend, or look up writing prompts to find something that sparks an idea.

And if those two aren’t for you, the greatest thing about creative hobbies is that there are so many more to choose from. You can pick up a paintbrush, knit yourself a scarf, take up photography, learn to sew, sculpt something out of clay, or even start a scrapbook! The possibilities are endless!

#3: Active Adventures

Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you can’t stay active. Personally, all my favourite sports are practiced indoors, anyway; as long as you can get to the building safely, you’re good to go!

For many years I was involved in martial arts, which is great for strength, co-ordination, and even a bit of self-defence. I’m also a big fan of rock climbing, which is traditionally an outdoor hobby, but with so many indoor climbing gyms around, it’s easy and safe to get involved even with no prior experience.

Even without leaving your nice, dry home, there are plenty of active hobbies you can get involved with. There are beginner courses online for everything from yoga to ballet to tai chi, if you’ve ever wanted to give those a go. There are also the classic dance fitness programmes which are always a ton of fun, bodyweight exercises or callisthenics if you want to build strength, stationary bikes and treadmills if you prefer the classic gym route, or jump ropes and hula hoops if you want to feel like you’re back on the playground!

#4: Deep Dive

Being stuck indoors is a great time to delve deep into a topic that interests you, whether it’s just for the sake of learning, or with the aim of achieving something tangible.

If you’re interested in your family history, for example, rainy season is a great opportunity to start looking into your family tree. Last year, I looked up my grandmother’s name online on a whim, and found out her home town had digitised a bunch of old newspapers from when she was a child. Turns out she once saved a friend’s life when she was a teenager, and I had no idea! Digital records are a great way to learn more about your family and where they came from, and if you reach out to local museums or historical societies, they’re often great at pointing you in the right direction.

Or maybe you’ve always wished you were better at math, or knew more about space, or had learned to code. Rainy season is the time to finally dive in, to find a course that’ll teach you what you want to know, or just to start looking things up and jumping down rabbit holes that interest you. You could come out of this season with knowledge that will better your life, a new hobby to get involved with, or even just fun facts to impress your friends!

#5: Game Glory

If you want something interactive and varied, with the possibility of social interaction along with it, games are always a great option!

Invite some friends over, grab some snacks, and pull out a Scrabble board or a deck of cards to have a simple and fun night. If you want to really test your friendship, make it Monopoly or Catan. Beyond these classics, there are thousands of board games with much less recognisable names, from simple and inclusive options that work with all ages, to longer and more complex options that you can return to over and over. In some areas, you can even find events or groups that get together regularly, where you can go along to make friends and play board games together.

Prefer to play online? There are video games for just about everything, these days. Gaming tends to get overly associated with the violent kind, but if you’ve ever played something like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, you know they can just as easily be a chill, relaxing time with cute graphics and nice music. Even my mother plays video games these days, with an affinity for time and resource management games, and the two of us work together on escape room simulators when we want to hang out.

And if you’re more of a puzzle person, there are games like Sudoku or Wordle which will not only keep you entertained, but get you thinking, too. Want a real challenge? Pull up something like Semantle or Redactle and I guarantee you’ll be tearing your hair out for hours – great for those slow days when you just want to fill in some time.

There you have it, my top five suggestions on how to beat boredom this rainy season, and maybe come out with a new skill or hobby on the other side. I hope this list has helped to spark some ideas for you, and maybe inspired you to try something new – who knows, maybe it’ll turn into a lifelong passion that you never expected!

If you want to share your hobbies with me, feel free to sign up for a chat session and I’d love to hear all about them. I also offer sessions where we practice reading aloud, talk about books, try out some creative writing, or go through your homework together – feel free to get in touch if you’d like to figure out the right lesson for you! For the rest of this month, you can even get 10% off your first lesson with me using my Rainy Season coupon!