Peregrination: Japan: February 2011

Ohisashiburi! Longtime no post! PS - click for larger photos.

H. at Musashino Koen

Being a Canadian kid, I love snow and I love winter, but after five or so months of icy weather, the first spring melt is always a welcome breath of fresh air. You know it's going to snow again, but still, it gives one hope.

Well, spring is not quite the same in Tokyo as it is back home (except for the knowledge that it will get cold again before it gets warm for good), but still, the first warm days bring a certain amount of giddiness with them. There's just something refreshing about not being able to see your breath when you wake up in the morning (and I mean inside the house - oh central heating, how I miss you!).

Hark! A bird!

Just a week or two ago, we had quite a snowfall here (for Tokyo). It was perfectly Robert Frost-esque. H. and I took the opportunity to go to the park and build a big snowman with a traffic cone for a hat. We built a smaller one just outside our apartment (no hat). Unfortunately, the falling snow was so wet we thought we ought not take our cameras, but trust me, it was heavenly.

The snow lasted approximately three days (and really, that's stretching it - it was mostly gone by noon the next day), and but a short time later, the thermometer reached 20C. Yup. 20C. In February. Oh, kaloo kalay!

Toad. Not singing. Just chillin'.

Do you know what the first day of warm weather means in Tokyo? I thought it just meant no more kotatsu (*sigh*), but it actually means toads. Lots of them. Big ones. All over the place (well, park). And lots of singing. Singing toads looking for mates. H. and I went walking in the park Friday evening and the pond was fairly teeming with them. When we went back today, the pond was a tangle of toad eggs. Now, I've seen toad eggs before, but this was unbelievable. It looked like a snarl of giant worms or intestines or something. Gross. But if it means lots of cute little tadpoles/pollywogs and toads, then that's cool.

Gross eggs.

The warm weather also means that the ume blossoms (plum blossoms) start coming out in full force. They've been blooming in fits and starts since late December, but the past few days have really got them going. H. and I spent the afternoon wandering and snapping photos of them (and toads). We also spent the day suffering from another sign of spring: hay fever. How I despise you, cypress trees! It's almost enough to make a girl wish that spring would pack up and go the way of the dodo, but then again, no: waking up with a sneeze is still better than waking up to a 5C room.