Over Summer, the country’s rice supply becomes scarce as we enjoy the final bites of last year’s bounty and prepare for rice harvest season. Talk of shinmai, or new rice, is on everyone’s lips. Our kitchens await the freshest delivery from our favorite farmer. While sun-dried, shinmai is still rich with moisture and produces the most luscious glossy steamed rice. I suspect most Japanese people will say that there is no greater luxury than hot steamed shinmai right out of the pot.

Every year on the 1st October, Zuiki Festival is held at Kitanotenmangu Shrine in Kyoto. It’s a festival that has been celebrated annually for over 1000 years to express our great gratitude for our Autumn harvest.

We have entered the subseason Autumn Equinox, which means we are now situated precisely at the peak of Autumn. In Japan, Autumn is associated to sports, reading, gastronomy, and the arts. And the distinctive urokogumo or scale clouds, the type of altocumulus that take on a fish scale-like look.

During this microseason, Swallows depart Japan and begin heading South. Sometimes they travel as much as 300km per day. Their destination is usually Australia or South East Asia. So if you reside in these areas of the world, then the name of your microseason a few weeks from now may be “Swallows Return”.

Wagtail, part of the Sparrow family, are said to call in the season. It’s their song that signals that we are properly situated in Autumn.

During this subseason called White Dew, we experience a moistness that is clearly different from Summer. It’s not the heavy weight of balmy humidity, but rather a hint of coolness in the breeze that is a marker of typhoon season. While in the city it still feels quite Summer, Dewy Flora seen in the early mornings in the mountains let us know that we are certainly in Autumn.