June in Japan

Just as I thought summer was already here, the rainy season arrived and it rains on 3 out of 5 days on average. Temperatures have fallen back to just under 25 degrees Celsius but I am grateful for the cool weather we get to enjoy for now, reminiscent of the days back in late winter and early spring. Although there are showers, there is no thunder or lightning. The Japanese call this season tsuyu and the kanji rings a bell with me, having experienced Taiwan's 梅雨 while I was living there. The humidity in Taiwan was really extreme though -- for days, the floor in my house would not dry and it was pretty annoying because everywhere was slippery. My family and I wore house slippers made of cloth to walk around properly.

Anyway, guess what lights up this rainy season? Fireflies! I was so excited when I stumbled across travel articles suggesting places in Tokyo or Kanagawa to admire these glowing bugs. I like these ones by TokyoCheapo and Tokyo Weekender. Yesterday, Ryan, Zenia and I met at Mukogaoka-yuen station which was a 10-min walk from Noborito station on the JR Nambu Line. After having dinner consisting of burgers and nuggets (15 pieces for 390yen! Available for a limited time only! #YOLO #truefriendssharefood), we sanpo-ed to Ikuta Ryokuchi Park. The walk was relaxing with the breeze in our hair, and many shophouses lined the main road in a rustic fashion. Finally, we arrived at the walk-in entrance, afraid that the gates were closed and that our trip was in vain. To our delight, we saw a couple walking into the park via the same entrance so it seemed definitely okay to stroll right in. The path towards the Field of Fireflies or Hotaru no Sato was barely lit with occasional small street lamps illuminating the park. It felt like an adventure! We arrived at the entrance to the field, 'denoted' by a security guard at the top of the stairs leading down, and grabbed a brochure from him each before descending into more darkness. In the distance, we could hear a trumpet practicing and we mistook that for the 'festival music'. There was, in fact, no festival and it was all a very quiet affair. People kept their voices hushed as they tried to catch a glimpse of the fireflies. Although it was dark, you still had to stop somewhere and keep your eyes peeled to see the glowbugs as they flickered a lot and darted around at random. We saw them amongst the trees and the tall grass, pretty little lights appearing and disappearing as they wished.

Perhaps it was quite early in the viewing season (10-26 June for this park) or maybe the heavy rain the day before had discouraged the fireflies to come out. Either way, thrilled we were to be able to see them buzzing around with their bottoms lit. On a side note, it was also kind of creepy to walk around in the close-to-absolute darkness, especially with all the trees there. We encountered a man with long hair, whom we mistook for a woman, and he was standing all by himself. Very spooky. Also, we heard a weird noise that sounded like a human yelping, but it could have just been a frog or bird of some kind.

 Wherever shall I go next to see even MORE fireflies? ♫