Essay Four seasons By Hal Richard	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
日本の四季 日本に滞在している外国人は、「あなたの国に四季はありますか？」と問い掛けられることが珍しくない。 日本が四季それぞれの美しさを味わう文化を育んできたのは確かだが、世界に数ある国の中で、なぜ日本だけが四季のあることをこれほど強く意識しているのだろうか。

One of the first questions many foreigners in Japan seem to be asked is: "Does your country have four seasons?" It is a question that can perplex and amuse many foreigners as it is often asked with what seems to be a sincere belief that Japan is the only country in the world that has four seasons.

I know that Japanese culture has traditionally avowed to a love of nature and this can be seen reflected in many a folding screen or other artwork depicting the birds and flowers of each season of the year, but I would be curious to find out what makes Japanese people believe that, of all the countries in the world, it is only Japan that has four clearly distinguishable seasons.

After all, Vivaldi's famous "The Four Seasons" and numerous works of art, from Shakespeare's sonnets and plays to various paintings, attest to the potency of the image of the four seasons in the European mind through the ages.

To be sure, the differences between the seasons in Japan are quite stark, and sometimes come about quite suddenly. However, I must say I have experienced in my own country, England, the extremes of the different seasons, including bitingly cold winter winds and sweltering hot summers — despite the gray image Britain may have, its weather can be quite varied, it doesn't actually rain all year round!

Talking of rain, I would, in fact, go as far as saying that, if anything, Japan has not four but five seasons — summer, autumn, winter, spring and the rainy season, a distinct season in itself.

So, although I am a little skeptical of Japan's claim of being unique in having four distinct seasons, I do think that perhaps the average person in Japan has a heightened sense of the changing of the seasons and the particular characteristics of each one — from knowledge of what fruit and fresh fish are in season to what colors to wear at different times of the year.

When sharing a house with other foreigners when I first arrived in Japan, everybody would leave their winter coats hanging on hooks in the hallway all year round. When a Japanese friend, visiting in summer, remarked that the sight of a row of heavy, thick coats made him feel hot, I had one of those zen-like instant revelations of the way in which many Japanese people respond to nature.

Now, like many of my Japanese friends, I dutifully hide away my winter clothes in boxes around the time the sakura bloom or when it gets warmer, so as not to feel even hotter in the humid Japanese summer. By now, I couldn't think of any other way of greeting the different seasons.

Shukan ST: Aug. 8, 2008

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