Letters from Charleston / チャールストン便り

Is it cool where you live? In South Carolina, it’s still midsummer although it’s September. We wish the cool season to come soon!
There was a Japanese poet who shared the same sentiments with us eleven hundred years ago.
あなたの住んでいる地域は涼しいですか。9月なのに、南カロライナはまだ真夏です。早く涼しくなってほしい。
同じ気持ち、1100年前の人が和歌に詠んでいます。

You have “fingers” on your hands and “toes” on your toe. In Japanese, both are called “fingers”. What are the names of each?

We learned about two powerful butterflies, the Chestnut Tiger in Japan and the Monarch Butterfly in the US.
Migrating butterflies are so inspiring that we hope more will be found in other parts of the world.

Charleston is abundant with Osmanthus Fragrans trees. It is a cousin of the Kin-Mokusei trees which are very popular in Japan today.

In the first spring in Charleston, we were very impressed by Wisteria and Live Oak trees in the neighborhood. [Fully translated in English after the Japanese text]

In January, we sowed some seeds of Lettuce. Now they are fully grown and delicious! [Fully translated in English after the Japanese text]