🍁秋 AKI (Autumn) has arrived
The air has turned cooler and fresher and the sky greyer and softer: it’s あき AKI (Autumn), the best season of them all.
After an あつい 🥵 ATSUI summer, the temperature has slipped to すずしい SUZUSHII (cool), a lovely word whose su’s and shii somehow feels cool.
Especially when contrasted to it’s tongue-twisting counterpart あたたかい ATATAKAI (warm)
In September it’s still warm enough and bright enough to sit by the window and read as night falls.
An old expression 読書の秋 DOKUSHO NO AKI (Autumn is for reading) fits this time of year.
It makes sense: 涼しい秋の夜は SUZUSHII AKI NO YORU WA (Cool Autumn evenings) are suitable for reading. Hopefully the warmth and light will linger for longer than normal this year.
Before darkness descended last night, I finished むらさきのスカートの女 MURASAKI NO SUKAATO NO ONNA (The Woman In the Purple Skirt) by Imamura Natsuko. (The English translation is by Lucy North.) The Woman in the Purple Skirt: Natsuko Imamura: 9780571364688: hive.co.uk
It is an engrossing tale, following the adventures of the mysterious character in the title, and the even more mysterious character who follows her around, the きいろいカーディガンの女 KIIRO NO KAADIGAN NO ONNA (the woman in the yellow cardigan).
The two characters give a great example of how the の particle is used to add details. In the English the details come after the main noun; in Japanese the details come before it.
For anyone who might be interested, I am still auditioning as グーレーのパーカーの男 GUREE NO PAAKAA NO OTOKO (the man in the grey hoodie).
If reading isn’t your cup of o-cha (sorry), I can also recommend another seasonal pastime 食欲の秋 SHOKUYOKU NO AKI (Autumn is for eating).
To get in the mood, click on the link at the end of the paragraph and you can write out the hiragana for key ingredients in autumnal dishes including しいたけ SHIITAKE (Shiitake mushrooms) さつまいも SATSUMAIMO (sweet potato) and かき KAKI (persimmon fruit). hiragana-aki-kudamono (happylilac.net)
My challenge for this autumn is to master how to make おこのみやき OKONOMIYAKI – for the English translation of this, take your pick from: Japanese pizza / savoury pancake / batter fried with various ingredients. Easy okonomiyaki recipe - BBC Food
Heavy and stodgy okonomiyaki sits awkwardly alongside better-known Japanese dishes such as sushi, soba and sashimi. It’s cheap and cheerful without pretension.
Let’s face it, okonomiyaki is never pretty: the pink fish flakes sprinkled on top don’t conceal the glutinous layer of sweet brown sauce or the fried cabbage-filled batter base.
It’s the bubble and squeak of Japanese cuisine. And the best thing about おこのみやき which literally means ‘cook as you like’, is that you can make the recipe up as you go along. That’s my kind of cooking.