OK it’s official, yesterday most of Japan entered the Rainy Season. Everything has a season here (“…turn, turn, turn…”) but this is not one of my favourites really. The new green leaves are beautiful and lushness abounds, but you can have too much lushness and everything’s so damp and mouldy… As we get into July the humidity and temperature will go up and up until it’ll be impossible to use the computer without worrying that the keyboard will get shorted out by the sweat dripping into it. However, I once heard someone say that living through the tsuysu was the basis of Japanese culture (“梅雨のすごしかたは日本文化の原点”) so I’ve obviously got some work to do…
Summer is even hotter, but at least it’s a bit less sticky and anyway we North Europeans like it hot. Asians seem to associate heat with work, sweat, tired… but if they had our cold damp winters they might understand why we enjoy a bit of warmth. Actually, here in Nagoya the weather’s not really that bad. Winters are dry and often sunny, with maybe just a couple of snowfalls and some chill winds, Spring is beautiful and starts in March, Autumn can be gorgeous too and from late July to early September it’s as if the whole place had been transported to Southeast Asia ( the heat here can be quite similar to Bangkok, for example ) – like going on summer holiday without moving!
Except you have to work of course…
asazuke 