The summer has been long and hot. Usually by the end of the third week of August the edge has gone off the heat, beginning a gentle slide into autumn. Not this year. The heat continued into September, the few signs of autumn include the maple leaves on the beer cans, the abundance of apples and sanma (saury) in the supermarket.
The day before yesterday was another 35 degree day. A few days ago I pulled a blanket from the cupboard - as the evening temperature dipped below twenty...
Yesterday, the universe shifted gears. One day 35, the next day 18.... This kind of variation can happen in Sydney as the oppressive crescendo of heat and humidity is stopped in its tracks by the southerly buster.... But in Tokyo...
Beer season is over and mulled wine season has begun. Hiro will wear short sleeves for the remainder of the week and then they will go to the dry cleaners to get washed, ironed and wrapped in plastic till next June - a neat way to keep them. "Aki guchi" autumn tastes have consigned the somen noodles to the cupboard till next summer, and today I wore a second layer as I went out... My Japanese teacher was talking about autumn melancholy last week, and I felt puzzled. Today I don't. The steady slide to winter has begun....
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