The Sound of Early Autumn

Autumn Arrives Quietly Series Vol.2

Each year, a moment arrives when the evening begins to sound different.

During the height of summer, cicadas seem to fill every corner of the day. Their voices rise from the trees beneath the bright sun, becoming part of the season itself.

Then, little by little, they begin to fade.

At first, you may not notice.

The trees are still green. The afternoon can still feel warm. Summer has not completely left.

But when evening arrives, another sound begins to emerge.

From gardens, fields, and patches of grass comes a softer chorus.

Crickets and other autumn insects call quietly through the night.

Their voices do not fill the air in the same way as the cicadas of summer.

They seem to leave more room for silence.

Perhaps that is why we notice them.

An open window.

A quiet room.

The distant sound of insects outside.

For a few moments, there is nothing else to hear.

Japan has long found meaning in the sounds of the seasons. Yet we do not need to know the name of every insect to understand what these voices tell us.

Something is changing.

The breeze told us first.

Now, the evening has found its own voice.

The leaves will change in time, and autumn will eventually fill the landscape with color.

But before autumn becomes something we can clearly see, we can hear it arriving.

Quietly.

One evening at a time.

If you missed the previous article in this series, you can read The First Cool Breeze.