Summertime Is Finally Here.

What that means in Japan is several weeks of rain followed by several weeks of humidity. So be sure to keep yourselves dry and enjoy some Summertime Blues...



One of my favourite signs of summer is the arrival of the Cicada (still a few weeks off.)
The cry of the cicadas セミ　(semi) is one of the piercing sounds of summer. When Japanese hear semi singing, they realize that summer has arrived. When there are many cicadas, the sound becomes like a shower, which is called "セミ時雨"semi-shigure 　(shower of cicadas).
















There is a famous haiku poem about cicadas written by Matsuo Basho(1644-1694).
静けさや　　　　Shizukesa ya (The tranquility)
岩にしみいる　Iwa ni shimiiru (Permeating the rocks)
セミの声　　　　Semi no koe (Voices of cicadas)

Since cicadas die only about a week after birth, they are compared to the transient life of man.

And I can't resist ending a post without a horrendous pun, so here we go:
When a swarm of cicada start to sing together, they are lead by a single orchestral leader. This is, of course, the "Semi-Conductor".