Paying Attention Even in the Heat

It's been very hot here in Utsunomiya for the past few days. Hot even for me. While virtually everyone around me was commenting on the summer heat, I noticed that it had been raining almost every evening for the past three weeks. This made evenings bearable until about three days ago. Since then, the heat has been oppressive even at night and I finally broke down and used the air conditioning.

I have avoided using the air conditioner for as long as possible this year. One reason is that I know that most people in the world don't have the luxury of using it. Another is to test to what extent living with it is just cultural conditioning and to what extent its an actual necessity. Also, I'm curious as to what I miss by using it. I realize that there are things I love about summer that I cannot experience if I am in an air conditioned environment. There is a certain sensory deprivation that comes from being surrounded by constant air conditioning.

Today was a good example. I came home and decided not to use the air. There was a breeze which gradually picked up. The sky became darker and a lovely rain fell which cooled things off immensely. The cicadas are singing again, sometimes on a long straight refrain, at times the pitch rising in intensity, at times falling, a natural music whose rhythms I cannot understand, but love possibly because of its unfathomable structure. So now I have the sensation of a breeze on my neck and the cicadas noisily competing with each other. Summer's lovely chorus.

Without air conditioning I have begun to think about where I'm comfortable naturally. I have begun to put together a mental map of places to avoid and places to seek refuge from the heat. Sadly there is only one street in the downtown area that is truly tree lined. It is fairly short, but the drop in temperature is noticeable when walking down it. Walking along the river is nice too. The sound of water has a cooling effect and the water mitigates the heat somewhat. It would be even nicer if there were willows or some other trees along its bank.

I hope that Utsunomiya can learn from its past to cool itself off naturally. I hope that it can use more shade trees and its river so that being outside is bearable even in summer. I hope that it can provide facilities to enjoy being outside such as cafes and benches and a bit of space between the street and people. Perhaps when fuel becomes more expensive we will rediscover some simple ancient answers to enjoying this time of the year. Japan has a summer culture born out of low-tech solutions to the problem of staying cool. It needs to take it seriously again.