Failing to Deal with the Great Heat

I have realized something terrible.

Today, July 24th. As I casually glanced at the calendar on the wall, I saw the two characters inscribed there and gasped.

...Yesterday, the 23rd, was marked as 'Taisho' (Great Heat).

I messed up.

Until now, every time one of the twenty-four solar terms arrived, I have written a column themed around the changing seasons. Yet, I completely forgot about the Great Heat, which should be the highlight of summer, signaling the hottest time of the year.

To make matters worse, yesterday I posted a completely different essay that had nothing to do with the season, with a straight face as if nothing were amiss.

If I was acting like nothing happened, the Great Heat was just as bad, passing by without so much as introducing itself. It was as if we both pretended not to know each other as we passed by.

Though, I was the only one who actually didn't know.

That said, I am not humble enough to bow my head and admit, 'I completely forgot.' When a person is in a pinch, shouldn't they put their brain to full use and construct a brilliant piece of logic?

Therefore, I would like to explain here just how justified and unavoidable it was that I overlooked the Great Heat yesterday.

First, let's look at yesterday's schedule.

I had a teaching job in the afternoon, and from the evening, an urgent matter suddenly came up. It was truly an unforeseen situation. I was busy 'dealing' with the tasks right in front of me.

In the midst of being forced to deal with one thing after another, there was no way I could have the luxury of looking at the calendar from a 'broad' perspective. Expecting someone who has lost that perspective to also spot the Great Heat is fundamentally impossible.

Furthermore, and this is the biggest reason—this year in Hokkaido, it is not 'Great Heat' at all.

Where did last year's intense heat go? This summer has been very peaceful so far, the so-called 'typical Hokkaido summer.' This season, I have turned on the air conditioner in my house only once. Just once.

I am not forced to live a life of 'enduring the heat,' wiping away sweat while fearing the electricity bill. Since my body and mind are spending time comfortably without being conscious of the two characters for 'enduring heat,' it is only natural that my internal seasonal sensor did not activate.

In the first place, I think there is also a problem with the name 'Great Heat'.

It is written as 'Great' and 'Heat' to mean 'greatly hot.' Since it calls itself that so grandly, it would be a problem if it weren't 'greatly hot.' However, right now, a cool breeze is blowing through my windows.

It is not greatly hot.

The 'Great' in 'Great Heat' is suspected of being false advertising.

If I were to write something like, 'Today is Taisho (the Great Heat); let's do our best to overcome the heat,' on a day like this, I would be complicit in a false statement. It is no exaggeration to say that my conscience, as a minor writer, refused to write a dishonest column (I just simply forgot).

Considering all of the above from a broad perspective, my failure to write a column for Taisho was not due to a careless mistake. It was the fault of a summer that was not particularly hot and did not threaten me at all.

Everything was an accident caused by the overly comfortable climate of Hokkaido. The location of responsibility is now clear.

Having written this much, I thought that even an excuse needed some backing. Just in case, I opened the Japan Meteorological Agency website to check yesterday's temperatures.

And then, I was taken aback once again.

On the 23rd, 662 locations nationwide experienced midsummer days, of which 282 were extremely hot days, and 7 were scorching days. In Sakuma, Shizuoka Prefecture, a maximum temperature of 41.1 degrees Celsius was recorded.

Taisho was, indeed, Taisho.

I intended to find evidence to support my excuse, but the excuse itself burned to the ground in the heat exceeding 41 degrees.

It is not that this year's summer is not hot. It is just that the region where I live happens to be cool. Hokkaido is vast. There are regions within the prefecture that are suffering from the heat.

To everyone living in hot regions across the country, I am very sorry. Please make sure to stay hydrated, use your air conditioning appropriately, and please, by all means, do not push yourselves.

Although it is a day late, since I have lined up such a sweltering excuse, let's consider it a respectable column for Taisho. Let's do that.

With this, my handling of Taisho is complete.

◇

Finally, please enjoy this cool-looking image.