Photo/Illutration A mother and her children play in the Kamogawa river in Kyoto on July 20. (Yoshiaki Arai).

When my backpack sways, I hear the clink of ice cubes in my water bottle. It is a faint but cooling and truly welcome sound in the brutal heat of summer.

I rarely leave home nowadays without an insulated water bottle that's a bit heavy but keeps my drink chilled.

It is relentlessly hot every day. However, there are certain sounds of summer that bring momentary relief.

They evoke something nice and cool.

One example is the crunch of ice being shaved to make "kakigori," a traditional Japanese frozen treat.

Another is the fizz of an ice-cold carbonated soft drink such as "saida" (a sweet sparkling drink with citrus aroma, unrelated to cider).

Just thinking about them helps me cool down.

It appears that sounds can cause the brain to recall past experiences by association.

For instance, the tinkle of a wind chime is associated with a breeze, a conditioned reflex that takes place in the brain, according to an expert who was quoted in a recent Asahi Shimbun report.

Interestingly, the sound of an air conditioner is far less effective than a wind chime in evoking a cooling image.

I suppose we humans are made to react emotionally to the ambient temperature.

The sound of children playing and splashing around in water is also delightfully cooling. The flowing water suggests a pleasant breeze.

Physician Tetsu Nakamura (1946-2019), who devoted his life to humanitarian work building canals in eastern Afghanistan, often stood at the water’s edge and savored what he saw.

He once said he felt the “force of life pulsating and bursting there.”

The words "record heat" and "dangerous heat" are currently being echoed around the world. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the present era one of “global boiling.”

In Japan, the average daily temperature in July was the highest since record-keeping began.

A haiku by Yahan Goto (1895-1976) goes, "Feeling cool makes me think it's cool."

In haiku, "suzushi" (cool) is a "kigo" seasonal keyword for summer because of the heat.

Forgetting the discomfort is a fleeting pleasure. Seeking it, I strain my ears for a small sound of summer.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 3

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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.

 

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