ASAGAO 朝顔
Here’s a shocker. Japanese children have homework during the summer. Their school year starts in April and is on a trimester system. So summer vacation occurs after the first trimester. And if you are a first grader, chances are that your summer homework will include observing the morning glory plant you’ve been growing at school. When I walk around a neighborhood and see a potted morning glory plant I smile, knowing that a first grader probably lives there.
FŪRIN 風鈴
Should you attend any kind of outdoor summer fair or market you’re sure to see racks of wind chimes for sale. And if it is a windy day, you’ll hear them. It is said that the sound of the wind chimes tells you that there IS wind and that thought cools you down. Just one way that people keep cool in the summer.
SEMI せみ
It was the biggest bug I’d ever seen on that summer day when I walked into the realtor’s office and failed to notice the bug on the chair. And then sat on it. It squawked. And then it flew off and I became aware of all of its friends chirping away. The cicada in Japan say “min, min.” Children seem to love them and avidly search for discarded shells. They are just another sound of the summer. A very very loud one.
