Shine a beacon for the change you cannot see

Even when things seem to come to a standstill, there are stirrings of life

A teshoku candlestick and hozuki – Chinese lantern – fruit at the door to the garden at BenTen Residences in Kyoto, Japan. Obon festival customs include lighting a small fire at home and setting out hozuki fruit to help guide ancestral spirits back for a visit. PHOTO: JANICE TAY
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On the first day of autumn - Aug 7 in Japan - the temperature in Kyoto hit 35 deg C. The next day, it soared to 39 deg C.

The question of why risshu, the start of autumn, falls in the hottest part of the year has long been a mystery. Writing in the ninth century, Japanese poet and nobleman Fujiwara no Toshiyuki had this to say:

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