(note: I had this scheduled to post an hour ago, but I just noticed it didn't post. Ecency has been having problems all week so I don't know. I'm going to manually post it at peakd. I canceled the scheduled post on Ecency, but with all their problems hopefully I don't end up with a double post here)

A few days ago it was a bit chilly in the morning. Warm now, but I guess that is how autumn works, back and forth. Anyway, when it was chilly I was out and saw something that made me pause and write this haiku.

they look cold
walking to school
in summer uniforms

^{Photo by Stephanie Hau on Unsplash}

This was written a few days ago, before Oct 1st. That day is important because that is koromogae (衣替え), the day when school kids change from summer uniforms to winter uniforms. June 1st is when they do the opposite, switching from winter uniforms to summer.

The thing is, the weather sometimes doesn't coöperate with the school schedule and it starts getting cold in the morning when they are walking or riding their bicycles to school a few weeks before Oct 1st. Or it is still too hot after the switch in some years. In either case, the dates never seem to happen at the optimal time.

Some areas do change the dates of koromogae, such as Hokkaido where it is colder so they switch to winter uniforms sooner, and some areas allow a brief transitional period of a few weeks during which either uniform is allowed (this period is called ikōkikan, 移行期間), but many areas are more strict about the switch. I live in one of those areas. Every year when we get near Oct 1st I watch as the school kids look uncomfortable, either cold before the switch or hot after, or both.

The practice is said to have its roots in the Heian Era (794-1185) and were originally copied from Chinese customs. The current changing dates of Oct 1 and June 1 were established in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) after they changed from the traditional calendar to the Western one. Many public workers also do the same (for example, police officers) as well as many private companies. Not only that, but in the house many housewives switch the family clothes in the dressers from summer to winter clothes. It is always interesting when Oct 1st hits and suddenly everyone is dressed different!

Anyway, I wrote this haiku a few days before the switch when I was walking outside and noticed how cold some schoolgirls looked. Actually now we seem to be having a bump in the heat and it is hot again outside but everyone is wearing their winter uniforms now!

❦

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.

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