Shonan Returning

Not long ago I left the urban life of Yokohama and moved back to the Shonan coast of Kanagawa. How lucky I feel to be back in an area rich in history, full of back lanes great for cycling, with hills as backdrop, by the sea. In Yokohama I found myself not knowing what season it was. The area we lived in had few temples or shrines and few festivals marking important times of the year. Homes were mostly new with small or nonexistent gardens without the traditional plantings that in Japan so clearly mark the seasons.

We moved to our new neighborhood here in time for the local shrine's summer festival that dates back hundreds of years, a festival to pray for good health in the coming year. On the last night of the festival we joined neighbors dancing bon dances around a huge tree. The mikoshi portable shrine was carried on the shoulders of neighborhood men round and round the tree before being put away until the next festival. Last week the cicadas started singing in the woods behind the shrine. Yesterday we saw a kingfisher among the lotus blooms in a nearby temple pond then cycled to the beach and watch hula dancers. This week are the summer fireworks. There is no doubt what season it is.