A Word From the Editor

A word from the editor

Boy am I excited for the change of season! Summer has graced us with its sweltering wet heat, its shear abundance in life and green and those wonderful beach days. We now wave it goodbye and say hello to this brief period of cool dry Autumn weather.

Summer, can be a divisive season. As I sit here and think back on summer, I think to those wonderful beach days where swimming in the ocean felt so soothing. After a swim, there is nothing quite as refreshing as enjoying kakigori (かき氷) in the hot summer heat. Things I feel that can rarely be enjoyed in other seasons. Summer also has a lot of life and energy surrounding us and I can’t quite help but feel uplifted by it. Sure, the green, life, beach and enjoying a nice swim are great but it is contrasted with the sheer difficulty and discomfort of everyday living with the intense humidity.

Summer’s humidity can be quite oppressive. Coming from South Africa where the humidity remains low and when you feel hot you can simply sit in the shade for a bit, in Japan its not quite the same. The shade won’t help you! Sweat becomes your closest friend as you wake up sweaty, go to school sweaty, come home sweaty and go to sleep sweaty. I’m also reminded of the wild sensation of jumping out the shower, drying myself off and still being wet. Ah! just thinking back on it makes me want to crawl out of my skin. Summer can be bad, it can be great too, but one thing is for sure, this year, it has passed.

On we go to Autumn the true gem of seasons in Akita. The comfortable cool weather is matched by the wonderful views all turning red. For those of you who are newly arriving: Aki(秋) means autumn in Japanese and ta (田) refers to a rice field. So, Akita is the autumn rice field. Rice field has many connotations in Japanese culture. It is not simply a field of rice but is a symbol of joy, food and a profusion of other things. I advise those new Alts arriving to not waste a moment and jump straight into reaping the good effects of this “autumn rice field.” Go for it and join your sempais on their autumn viewing trips and eat as many sweet potatoes as you can.

For now, let’s take a look back on summer.

Here we go...