The rainy season officially ended Sunday in Kyushu and the Chugoku region, between one and eight days earlier than usual but one to two days later than last year, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The rainy season ended in those areas a day after its conclusion in the Kanto-Koshin, Tokai and Kinki regions and in Shikoku.

The agency has yet to declare the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions to be free of the rain's seasonal grip.

During the rainy season in Kyushu and Chugoku, Kagoshima registered 765 mm of rainfall, about 139 percent of the total during last year's season -- an increase blamed mainly on typhoons -- while many other areas were drier than usual, the agency said.

Fukuoka reported 208 mm, about 50 percent of last year's total, while Hiroshima received 273 mm, about 71 percent.