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The four seasons in Japan

The change of the seasons is quite noticeable in Japan.
As Japan is a long narrow country, the view of each season is very different between north part and south part.

Winter

In winter, the north part of Japan is very cold and has a lot of snow.
But in the south part of Japan, it seldom snows.
At the plain area of Kochi I live, it snows only a few times per a winter.

		Cherry tree nearby

Spring

Spring comes with cherry blossoms.
They start to bloom at the end of March in south end of Japan.
And blooming shifts to north part with time.
We call this shift "cherry blossom front".
Coming spring, the forecast of "cherry blossom front" are announced by the Meteorological Agency.
Japanese likes cherry blossom very much and enjoy seeing cherry blossoms.

Sakura	Tsukushi (horsetail)	Nanohana
	at a park in Osaka city	at Osaka castle park
at Godaisan	at Chikurin temple	at nearby
at Makino garden	at Makino garden

Summer

The period from the latter half of June to the end of July is called Tsuyu season (the rainy season). This season is the most rainy season in a year.
The most popular flower of Tsuyu season is Ajisai (hydrangea) and we can see this flower everywhere.
After Tsuyu season, full-summer comes.
Japanese summer is hot and humid and recently, becomes hotter because of global warming.
Every year, the record of the max temperature is broken at the various places of Japan.
The real feelings of summer are watermelon, wind-bell, fireworks (sparkler), sunflower, morning glory and shaved ice with syrup on the top..........

Ajisai (hydrangea)	Ajisai (hydrangea)	Ajisai (hydrangea)
Watermelon	Wind-bell	Sparkler
Sunflowers	Morning glory	Shaved ice
Sudare (Reed blind)	Katori_senko (mosquito incense)	Sensu (Japanese handy fan)

Autumn

Though depending on the area, the rough period of Japanese autumn is from middle of September to early December.
Here comes autumn when hot summer has passed away and red dragonfly are observed.
In this season, broadleaf trees change the color of leaf from green to red or yellow.
Japanese visit mountains and enjoy the change of color of leaves. We call this appreciation "Momiji_gari" (maple-tree viewing).
To our regret, before World War 2, Japanese cedars that are a kind of coniferous tree were planted all over Japan in accordance with national policy. So the areas where we can enjoy "Momiji_gari" are restricted.

This article is on the writing.