Many years ago, I received a New Year’s “nengajo” (greeting postcard) from a young man who had relocated from Saitama Prefecture to Akita Prefecture for his job.
He wrote, “I realized for the first time that there is such a thing as the scent of snow.”
From his message, I could sense his quiet pleasure in making new discoveries while struggling to adjust to his life in the unfamiliar snow country.
Since then, I have remembered his words whenever it has snowed.
As the air trembles and condenses in the cold, so to speak, I would try to sniff out the scent of snow in the back of my nose.
I can readily recognize the smell now. But in the past, I did not even know it existed. We humans are so strange.
Actually, snow not only gives off a scent, but it also makes sounds.
A heavy accumulation of snow atop a house causes the roof to creak, as if the snow is determined to crush everything under its weight.
“No other sound is more terrifying,” a friend of mine, a native of a snow-bound town on the Sea of Japan coast, used to say.
Snow fell in Tokyo on Feb. 5.
It was actually a wet, wintry mix, but bad enough to disrupt public transportation and the distribution of goods, and it must have inconvenienced many people.
I hope everyone will watch out for icy patches underfoot today, so they won’t slip and hurt themselves.
In the big cities, the amount of snowfall has apparently decreased over the years. However, the inconveniences and dangers to the daily lives of citizens must have increased.
Asked repeatedly to refrain from non-urgent outings, I, for one, would be made to feel unnecessarily rushed and flustered.
Even though I tell myself I have to live with this, I can’t help feeling sorry for myself for not being able to have the luxury of sitting back and simply enjoying the snow.
In “Kuroi Fukin” (Black organ), poet Sakutaro Hagiwara (1886-1942) wrote to the effect, “Woman, play the organ/ Lightly, gently and solemnly/ Like the sound of falling snow.”
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 6
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*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
