＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added on 14/11/2023> This year, there has been a massive outbreak of stink bugs in Takatsuki City, where I live.
It seems that there has been a mass outbreak of stink bugs all over the country this year, and I see them frequently here in Takatsuki City where I live. I’ve seen many of them clinging to walls and window glass, and in the parking lot and other areas around my house.
I exterminate them as soon as I find them, but this has been going on for over a month.
If there is heavy snowfall nationwide this winter, it seems that the theory that there is a connection between the mass outbreak of stink bugs and heavy snowfall may not be entirely off the mark.
１．There is a lot of snow in years when there is a large outbreak of stink bugs.
Have you ever heard that “years when there is a mass outbreak of stink bugs tend to have a lot of snow”? There may be many people who have never even seen a stink bug.
When I was in the third year of junior high school, a large number of stink bugs appeared on the Mirabilis jalapa,（the marvel of Peru or four o’clock flower） in my house. They were small insects less than 1 cm in size, with golden brown bodies and a yellow circle pattern in the middle of their backs. However, as their nickname “farting bugs” suggests, they had a foul smell when caught.
On the day of the public high school entrance exam on March 15th of the following year, there was an unexpectedly heavy snowfall that began in the morning, causing train delays, so the start time of the exam was postponed.
There is a legend about “stink bugs and heavy snow” in Okayama Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture and the Tokai region.
I heard it from someone from Okayama Prefecture after I became a member of society. It reminded me of the “spring snow” on the day of my high school entrance exam.
Although this is not professional research data, someone who investigated the relationship between the “number of stink bugs” and the “amount of snowfall” concluded that, although there were years when the results were incorrect, there is a certain degree of correlation.
２．Precognitive abilities of insects and animals
It is not clear why stink bugs occur in such large numbers, but it may be that they sense that the following winter will be cold and move from the mountains and fields to warmer areas near residential buildings to lay large numbers of eggs.
I’ve heard that animals often exhibit strange behavior before an earthquake or other disaster occurs. Perhaps insects and animals have a kind of “precognitive ability” or “sixth sense” that we humans have yet to be able to explain through “science.”
It is well known that “When swallows fly low, it will rain, and when swallows fly high, it will be sunny.” This is because when humidity increases, insects’ wings become heavy and they cannot fly high, so swallows that feed on these insects circle at low altitudes. The saying “When dragonflies fly low, it will rain” has the same meaning.
３．Weather forecasting
I learned the saying “When streak clouds appear, rain is near” from a weather forecaster on TV recently.
＜「すじ雲が出ると雨が近い」＞
After watching carefully afterwards, I found that it was true. These clouds form high in the sky, so they are a sign that the humidity in the sky is starting to rise, which means rain is near. The same logic applies to the saying “When contrails appear, rain is near.”
“Yuudachi Mizora” (also called “Yuudachi Mikka”) means that when there is a evening shower, it often lasts for three days. I think this is certainly true from experience. But it’s not always the case…
The saying “If you see a line of ants it will rain” means that when the ants are carrying their eggs or other things out of their nests, they sense that rain is approaching and move them to a safe place.
The saying “When the cicadas stop singing, it will rain” means that the cicadas stop singing when they sense that rain is approaching.
The saying “When a cat washes its face, it rains” comes from the fact that when it gets warmer, fleas and parasites become more active, and cats’ skin becomes more prone to itching. This causes cats to groom themselves more frequently. When it gets warmer, it means that a front or low pressure system is approaching, which means it is more likely to rain.
There are many other “weather-related proverbs.” These are called “kantenbouki（「観天望気」）,” and are traditional wisdom about the weather born from the experiences of people long ago.
Compared to modern people, people in the past were more sensitive to the weather, perhaps because many of them were engaged in agriculture or fishing. From now on, I too will try to look up at the sky and become more sensitive to the changes in the clouds, stars, and moon.