Taiwanese media outlets ETtoday and China Times reported on the 10th that Taiwanese people's "basic skills" surprised Japanese people.

According to the article, a Taiwanese man recently revealed on the social media platform Threads an incident that occurred when he visited Japan after a long time and dined with a Japanese friend at a cafe in Osaka. The man felt a humid smell during the meal and said, "It smells like it's going to rain. Is it going to rain soon?" to which his friend was surprised and replied, "You can tell it's going to rain by the smell? Are you a kappa?"

The man, who reportedly gave a wry smile at his friend's remark, explained in his Threads post, "...I am (not a kappa but) a Taipei resident." He seemed to suggest that by living in Taipei for a long time, one naturally becomes sensitive to the smell before it rains and changes in humidity.

It is said that many Taiwanese netizens showed sympathy for this post, with comments such as: "That smell before it rains is really easy to recognize," "Are there people who don't know the smell of rain?", "It's stranger for people not to know it," "Isn't this a basic skill for Taiwanese people?", "It smells like rust, and when you feel that, you know it's going to rain soon. The expression 'kappa' is quite interesting," "Residents of Keelung (in northern Taiwan) don't even need to smell it. They have a weather station built into their bodies," and "Even indoors, I can smell the damp soil outdoors."

In addition, there were also users who introduced judgment criteria such as: "Rain truly has a smell. City rain has a smell that includes humidity and muggy air, and it feels clingy on the skin, which isn't very pleasant. On the other hand, rain in the countryside smells of green grass. Japanese rain smells like dry cotton cloth, and the raindrops are fine. Rain certainly has different smells and sensations," and "If animals or insects start chirping after the rain stops, it truly means the rain has cleared. Conversely, if they don't chirp, the rain will continue."

Besides this, it is said that comments such as: "Perhaps people who can't smell rain have been naturally selected against. Humans have spent most of their evolutionary history on the African savannas, so finding water must have been more important than finding food," and "Honestly, for people in Taipei, the ability to discern the smell of rain is like a survival instinct. Because if you don't have an umbrella, the next moment could be disastrous," were also received. (Translated and edited by Kitada)