The Smell of Summer

I love the smell of freshly mown grass. To me, it is the smell of summer. Unfortunately, no one owns a yard in Kyoto. And so, summer in Japan becomes another of those seasons that doesn't seem quite right. Winter has no snow, and summer has no mown grass.

The closest I can come to the smell of summer and the feel of something plant-like under my feet is tatami. Walking into a room with new tatami is like stepping out of your car into haying season. The distinctive fragrance of fresh tatami is overpowering to the point that some people can't be in the room too long with it, but at the same time it conveys a sense of the outdoors that one doesn't usually find in the city. The ban on slippers on tatami also means that inhabitants and visitors usually pad around in their barefeet, getting just a taste of what it's like to run around the front yard with your shoes off.

I am particularly grateful for my tatami room. Although it is too old to smell new, the woven straw still reminds me of my grandfather's hay mow. And whenever I walk across it, I feel just a little bit like I'm stepping onto a summer lawn.