It’s so hot, I can’t bear it without an air conditioner. On my way back from the gym, I found some Jochugiku flower (pyrethrum flowers) growing along the roadside. As I contemplated using these Jochugiku flowers as the subject for a haiku, old memories came flooding back. In the past, there were no air conditioners, and as soon as we finished dinner, we would rush out of the house. Outside, there was a Shogi (floor desk) about the size of one tatami mat, where all the neighbors would gather and play shogi (Japanese chess). At that time, we used to burn Jochugiku under the floor desk, of course, as a mosquito repellent. There were plenty of Jochugiku flowers blooming in the nearby Yodogawa riverbed, and we would pick them and let them dry for several days. When we burned them, mosquitoes would stay away, and I loved the fragrance. However, over time, it was replaced by mosquito coils, air conditioners were invented, the cool evening breeze custom disappeared, and on hot summer nights, everyone started staying indoors.

暑くて暑くて、クーラー無しでは過ごそません。ジムからの帰り、道路沿いの植え込みに除虫菊を見つけました。今日はこの除虫菊を題材に俳句を作ろうとあれこれ考えている内に、昔の思い出が蘇ってきました。昔はクーラーなんてものはなく、夕食を終えるとすぐに家を出たものです。外には畳一枚分位の床机があって、近所の皆んなが集まって来て、そこでよく将棋をしました。その時に、床机の下で焚いていたのが除虫菊です。もちろん蚊除けです。近くの淀川の河川敷には除虫菊が沢山咲いていて、それを取ってきて、何日間か干しておくのです。それを焚くと、もちろん蚊は来ないし、その香りが好きでした。それがいつの間にか蚊取り線香に変わり、クーラーができて、夕涼みもなくなり、夏の暑い夜は皆んなが家に閉じ篭もる様になりました。