San Kan Shi On…“Four days cold, three warm…”

Naturally, after I wrote the long winter entry, the weather made me a liar and for one full week immediately following we had almost summer-like warmth. Kyoto inhabitants swarmed the edges of the rivers that transect the city, walking their dogs, reading books, jogging or just sitting and watching the ducks, egrets and cranes. I even took one of the toddlers I babysit out on a bike ride to the river and she and I watched a grey heron along with an elderly couple. The elderly woman sat in a wheelchair enjoying a final break in the cold to rejoin the outside world. There was something very touching in the moment we all shared together—two caretakers with two dependents at opposite ends of life.

Of course, since it was still February, the warm weather was not to stay and the past week was nearly as cold as deepest winter-and very rainy. Yuck. One of my favorite things about living in Kyoto is that we bike nearly everywhere we go. However, biking in the rain is a total drag. I have rain pants and a rain coat and I have also slowly gained proficiency in biking with an umbrella (as most bikers do here). But, still, ugh. To add insult to injury, last week, while riding in the rain, my umbrella flipped inside out and later the same day my rain pants ripped at the crotch. Lovely.

Several of my students have taught me the Japanese expression san kan shi on. This phrase is roughly translated as “four days of warm weather followed by three days of cold” and aptly describes the early spring season. I find myself rotating between my light jacket and my heaviest winter one on a daily basis which makes getting ready in the morning a little extra challenging. Many days have found me walking toward my bike, only to turn around to rethink my wardrobe choices for the day.

At least we have had some reprieve to the cold weather and I can begin to imagine how nice it will be to not ever see our breath inside again!! I definitely feel like we earn the splendor of sakura, or cherry blossoms, after freezing inside for months. We still have a few more weeks until the pink profusion begins but until then I can enjoy my sakura mochi (special seasonal wagashi—Japanese rice and bean sweet), and even the sakura steamer and sakura hot bun at Starbucks.

Blossom fever is starting though…some Japanese friends of ours showed us a picture on their digital camera of a cherry tree in bloom they had just seen and it was clear that they were elated. Later while sharing a taxi with them, we all saw the tree and the taxi driver nearly drove off the road in his excitement. We have begun to reserve upcoming weekends for sakura viewing and I feel very lucky to live in what is possibly Japan’s most cherished sakura-endowed city. 

Today I was babysitting and my toddler and I walked around looking at all the buds on the trees and bushes and the few flowers like the daffodils who are heralding the upcoming show. The entire natural world is just getting ready to spring into life. Is that why we call this season “spring”?