Summertime...and the cicadas are singing

It's so very very hot and very very very very humid here! And I don't think the Japanese believe in air conditioning. Our theater is always stifling on the hot days, and sometimes I don't know how the people sit through the show! I feel the worst for our costumed characters. The trains and stores have A/C (and use it), but big public venues - no. I wonder why? Maybe fan makers hold the majority of stock....


Cicadas - such interesting and beautiful insects. They are singing up a storm here in Japan. At one park I visit, they are sooooooo loud! After a while the sound becomes a kind of white noise. I did a bit of research and found that it is the males that are singing - it's their mating call. Cicadas spend most of their life underground (anywhere from 6 - 17 years, depending on the species), and then they burrow up, live in the trees, and search for a mate. It's the adults that I am hearing and occasionally see, and their life above ground is very short (only a couple weeks). The cicadas here are very pretty and look very similar to the picture above. Click the title to hear them sing (nearby brood din).

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