VOX POPULI: Rainy days of June seem to go on forever

It depends on the weather, but twilight seems to linger forever these days. Monday was the summer solstice. Tokyo's sunrise was at 4:25 a.m., and sunset at exactly 7 p.m.

A haiku by Shikyo Tomooka goes: "After the evening paper/ Hollyhocks in the twilight." The lingering twilight of early summer makes me feel free.

Hollyhocks bloom during the tsuyu rainy season. If hydrangeas are the lead players this season, hollyhocks are like generous sidemen.

Their straight stems grow to about the height of an adult's chest, and their pale pink and mauve flowers open first lower down on the stems. The blossoms slowly move upward, and by the time the topmost flowers are in bloom, the rainy season is usually over.

But that day won't come for quite a while yet. Rain icons still predominate the weather forecasts, and I feel a bit like an underwater skin diver.

In residential areas, the damp air is redolent with the sweet fragrance of gardenias.

These flowers are like beautiful but somewhat shadowy co-stars next to the hydrangeas.

Chizuko Imai, a haiku poet, called June an "underprivileged month" in her recent contribution to the vernacular Asahi Shimbun. To begin with, there are no public holidays in June, and food spoils quickly, too, she pointed out.

It rains every day, she went on, and the saijiki Japanese almanac of seasonal words for haiku lists all kinds of creepy-crawly creatures--kera (mole cricket), namekuji (slug), mimizu (earthworm), hiru (leech) and gejigeji (house centipede). But June is also her birth month, Imai noted.

Come to think of it, the kanji Chinese characters that stand for these rather unwelcome creatures do look unpleasantly descriptive.

A haiku by Hinao Goto goes: "The kanji for namekuji/ Start wriggling."

Still, if I try hard to look at the positive side of things, I could say the month of June represents impressive biodiversity.

I suppose we ought to celebrate life that flourishes in the early summer drizzle.

Let me return to the subject of twilight. During the rainy season, it is truly beautiful when the sky clears in the evening.

There is something exhilarating about the dark, cloud-covered sky suddenly becoming clear and bright in the evening.

Heaven and Earth seem to celebrate the rich "month of water" that is June.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 21

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.