Yet another wild and wonderful fact about Japan summers is that they have an abundance of cicadas, which fill Akashi with their shrill cries on any given day. Since summer began in full, I have been ‘serenaded’ each day on my walk to work by trees full of cicadas. I realize that this is not a phenomenon specific to Japan, but in Victoria I don’t think I have ever seen or heard a cicada up close before. At first I wasn’t even sure whether the sound I heard was a natural sound or some sort of high-pitched electronic sound along the main street in Akashi. They also have a skill at changing their sound, as what I thought for a time was a sprinkler (highly unlikely in my neighbourhood anyway) was actually a cicada as well. Up until now I hadn’t had the pleasure (or maybe horror would be a better term) of seeing a cicada. But today on my walk home from the grocery store I stopped at a playground where I hear some noisy cicadas in the trees. I must admit, I was a little disturbed to come face to face with one these not-so-little creatures.
Strangely enough, one of my lessons this week was related to cicadas and one of my students expressed her distaste for cicadas. She also let me in on the next stage of their life cycle, where they die en masse and start dropping from the trees. Hmm… kind of makes their shrill cries of life sound a little better than the alternative.
Anyway, here are a couple photos of the cicadas I encountered today. Enjoy…?
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