In mid-July, author friend Jonelle Patrick and I headed over to Ueno Park to see the lotus in bloom on Shinobazu Pond, just before the start of the Ueno Natsu Matsuri (Summer festival).
Lotus blossoms open early in the morning, and close before noon, so you need to get up early to catch them at their peak. We arrived at the pond before 9 a.m., and walked around to the place where the festival setup was going on. The stands were still under construction, but the hundreds of furin (風鈴)–Japanese wind bells–were already hung and chiming away in the breeze.
We walked out on the boardwalk, enjoying the lotus blossoms and the ringing of the chimes.
Japanese people have enjoyed the sound of furin in the summer since at least the Heian period. The first ones usually were cast, often in bronze–and, in fact, I have a set of metal ones that I received from a friend to commemorate the successful end of my 100 Summits journey. In modern times, glass ones have become more standard, and you see them everywhere in Japan, especially in summer.
The ringing of the chimes is supposed to make you aware of the breeze, and make you feel cooler in the humid heat of summer. I can’t say they make me feel any cooler, but they are a lovely distraction.
So many lotuses grow in Shinobazu pond that they look like a field in the summer. There’s water under all those massive leaves!
Lotuses and furin are summer traditions in Japan–along with kakigori (Japanese shaved ice) and summer festivals. While summer isn’t the most pleasant time to visit Japan from a temperature perspective, you definitely see things at this time of year that you won’t see in cooler months–and that, at least, is something to recommend it!