The Simpsons
It’s now autumn.
There is a day every year in Tokyo, usually towards the end of September, when there is such a distinct change in the air that everyone knows autumn has arrived. That day was yesterday, and the relief it brought me was incredible. It was still quite warm, but with no humidity it was like a different country. Everything changes, the clouds now looks like the opening of the Simspons. Gone are the big, low hanging stratocumulus’, only visible through the soupy haze that’s supposed to be air.
Growing up in Ireland I never remember paying such close attention to the weather forecasts as I do here. Being so liable to change there wasn’t much point I suppose. In the space of a couple of days here I know with almost 100% certainty that I won’t see the return of a hot and humid day until sometime towards the end of June next year.
I love this season. Usually from now until around January — with the exception of the odd typhoon — it will be dry, settled and getting gradually cooler. In Japan they call autumn the sports season (スポーツの秋), and talk about peoples appetites improving (食欲の秋). Everything improves. Food tastes great, you can sleep better, going out is more relaxing, running is easier.
In fact I have my first race, a half marathon, tomorrow morning. It will be warm (24c) and a bit windy, but relatively low humidity (60%). Far from perfect conditions but good enough for an opening race to see how my general condition is after the summer.
