The country and the people

The Seasons

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The Seasons

Japan has four seasons. Now this is not unusual. What is unusual, though, is how many people believe that Japan is very unique in having four distinct seasons. Some Japanese even find it hard to believe that other countries could be equally blessed.
Nevertheless, as befits a society in which farmers have a political impact completely out of proportion to their numbers, the changing of the seasons does hold particular meaning for all Japanese. The problem is that two of the four seasons can be quite brutal. Winter, heavily influenced by Siberian cold fronts to the north, can leave you feeling that you’re never warm enough. Meanwhile, summer would be all right if you could spend all your days in shorts and T-shirts, but if you have to wear a tie or a dress, they can be disgustingly, drippingly hot and humid. Yet I have found that a jacket or a cardigan is still essential for many people in summertime. Why? Well, look around you the next time you sit down in a restaurant. It’s apparent that public air conditioners have only two settings in Japan: ‘Off’ and ‘Maximum Polar Blast’.

Spring and summer are very lovely, though, and the country is bewitchingly beautiful at this time. Spring, of course, is of primary importance as that is when the cherry trees blossom white and pink for an all-too-brief moment. That is followed by flowers of every sort which are planted in regular rows with loving care. Yet culturally, plants are important. People who have trouble naming four-legged animals and could not tell you the difference between an alligator and a crocodile will still be able to identify all different sorts of flowers and trees.
And there’s autumn: golden days touched by a legacy of summer sunshine, but leavened with a bittingly cool breeze that has just appeared from around the corner. The changing of the leaves is as important here as in many other countries, and in Japan there’s one short and nifty word to sum this up: kouyou. Autumn sports many days without rain, just pure, clear blue skies.

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