June in Japan brings with it the rainy season or tsuyu in Japanese (hence the birthday pun in the title - Liz's birthday was this month, in the rainy season). It’s a wet time of year (not surprisingly). It has rained most days this month. There have been a few days (and even a few days in a row) of nice sunny weather this month, but they have always been followed by days of rain. This is the time of year when the rice paddies seem to grow before your very eyes. The warm temperatures, high humidity and regular rain help the rice plants grow so quickly! Now most of Yosano is a vast field of emerald green rice paddies. As I mentioned, the humidity is through the roof, and my bikeride to and from school each day is becoming a pretty unpleasant one.
The hydrangeas are starting to flower all over the place, too. June is traditionally the month when hydrangeas flower here, and so they are closely associated with the rainy season. The frogs are also in full chorus every night, and this morning I heard my first cicada of the year (a sign that Summer is pretty much here). The cicadas here can get so loud in summer that it almosts drives you balmy! Haha
A couple of weeks ago, Sally and Mark came to visit us from London. It was great to see them again. We managed to get in a bit of sightseeing in Kyoto (not helped by the extreme heat!) and then some downtime here in the countryside. Ippei, Junko and Yoko also enjoyed catching up with Sally and Mark.
Mark, Sally and Liz at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto
after touring around the city, we boarded out limited express train home to Tango, shopping in hand
At one point, I took Junko, Sally and Mark to see Itanami Hachiman Shrine in Iwataki. It is one of my favourite shrines. I don't know exactly why, but I have lots of memories associated with that shrine, and I there's just something about the history of the place and the mystery and the massive hike up the many stairs you have to make to get there that appeals to me. So anyway, I dragged them all up the seemingly endless steps through the forest to the shrine. It was there that I had my brush with death. I was walking near a big rock when I heard a rattling sound in the leaves at the base of the rock. I stepped closer to investigate. Again, I heard the rattling sound. It was then that I saw it. There in the leaves was a snake, with its tail raised up and rattling. It was a grey/brown scaley snake with a semi-diamond pattern and a triangular head. I was pretty sure that rattlesnakes didn't live in Japan, but it sure looked and sounded like one! Rattling aside, I thought it looked like a mamushi (Japanese pit viper). It's a poisonous snake. Junko agreed that it looked like a mamushi, so I backed off and left it alone. When I got home, I researched online and found somewhere that mamushi have been known to rattle their tails like rattlesnakes when threatened. (However, aparently they don't actually rattle their tails as such, but rather they shake them and if that hits against something it makes a rattling sound) Scary!! Here's a short Youtube clip showing a mamushi "rattling" its tail:
We all went out for dinner at a local izakaya in Yosano
In just a few weeks time (21 days to be exact) Lee and Prad will come visit us. Liz and I can’t wait. It will be much better weather then, and we’re planning a whole bunch of stuff… of course, including as many beer gardens as we can fit in!!
I LOVE Japanese beer gardens! You just pay a set amount (usually very reasonable) and then it’s all you can eat and all you can drink until closing (usually three hours or so). The ultimate summer evening passtime :)
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