The Japan Meteorological Agency announced the official start of the rainy season (tsuyu) in our part of the country today. It could be raining for two weeks beforehand but it ain't the rainy season until they say it is. Unusually, this year, their pronouncement actually coincided with some rain. Tsuyu in Japan doesn't bring the same joy that the monsoons did in India when I was a child, but I think that's because industrial societies tend to equate rain with pain, whereas agrarian nations see it more as a life preserving force.
Posted by Joe at June 10, 2003 08:34 PMAnd what date do they have marked on the calendar to start the air conditioning?
Posted by: DJ at June 12, 2003 10:34 AMGood question. I don't know when the Met Agency does it in their own buildings, but I checked with the Lake guys I do some work for and apparently the official date is at the beginning of July for local government offices, though they get it earlier because they share a building with the United Nations Environment Agency (UNEP) and the foreigners working there complain bitterly about the heat and humidity. Bolshie foreigners at it again?
Posted by: Joe at June 12, 2003 02:23 PM