The weather!

The weather is quite a topic of conversation here. It is normal to mention it in greetings when writing a letter. People usually have something to say about it when they meet. And there is usually some coverage on the news about rain, snow, wind or heat - it can often be the headline. Japan is a country where it can get very hot (like this summer) and very cold (in certain areas); some parts have rainy seasons; others experience typhoons. The daily evening weather forecast is usually quite fun as there is always a little chat about some obscure aspect of weather before moving on to what tomorrow will bring. Tonight we had little pictures of sheep-shaped clouds to tell us that the weather is to be changing - there is actually a word 'sheep cloud'. The change of seasons is marked well. We were interested to learn that according to the Japanese calendar autumn started on 7th August (while most places, even where we are in the north, were baking in one long stretch of summer heat). In the traditional calendar there are actually 24 days which divide the year into 24 sections, each day marking a different point in the year. The other day we hit the day which marks the limit of summer heat - well, it's still pretty hot! But it will not be long now till we come upon the days marking the descent of frost, the beginning of winter, the start of small snow and the start of big snow! Climate change is affecting everywhere but one of the wonderful things about Japan is to see and experience the rhythms of the changing seasons. It's said a hot summer can lead on to a bad winter though - we'll see.