The トンボ (dragonfly) suddenly appeared in large numbers in my garden last week. They seem so gentle especially when they land on your finger, but they are, of course, great predators. That's fine with me as long as they take care of those pesky 蚋 (gnats).

They are very much a part of Japanese summer culture appearing as motifs on clothing and tableware as well as haiku and songs. They are considered the embodiment of 勇気 (courage), 強さ (strength), and 幸福 (happiness/fortune).

Perhaps the most famous song is the children's classic 「赤とんぼ」 or Red Dragonfly. The lyrics are short but can be a little difficult to follow. This is how I interpret them:

♪♪
夕焼小焼の、赤とんぼ
負われて見たのは、いつの日か
"Red dragonfly in the dying light of the red sunset, when was it I saw your like sitting on the back of my nursemaid?"

山の畑の、桑の実を
小籠に摘んだは、まぼろしか
"Was picking mulberry fruit with my small basket in the mountain fields only a dream?"

十五で姐やは、嫁に行き
お里のたよりも、絶えはてた
"When my nursemaid left to become a bride at 15, nothing more was ever heard from her home."

夕焼小焼の、赤とんぼ
とまっているよ、竿の先
"Red dragonfly in the dying light of the red sunset, stay perched there on the end of the pole."
♪♪

I'm afraid my translation is far from lyrical, but it gives you some sense of the feeling of time passing and looking back on something lost.

I saw my first ever firefly on Tuesday. I came out of the office into the late evening and noticed a small light dancing over my car. I stood mesmerised as it made its way towards me, around my head and then off into the night sky. I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

Here's one of the 蜻蛉 that came to visit my garden today. I thought it was interesting how 蜻蛉 can be read in three ways all meaning dragonfly: トンボ, せいれい, or あきつ even if it appears the second two only appear to be of historical significance.

A couple of associated words that I like are とんぼ返り（する） (make a u-turn or do a somersault), and とんぼ結び (a wing shaped knot).

The first one might be quite useful. A Google search turns up things like 人生とんぼ返り, 青森戻れず沖縄にとんぼ返り, 65％が再犯で刑務所にとんぼ返り. Its use as somersault is probably restricted to old-fashioned, on-stage performances. You can also use とんぼを切る for somersaults, but I think the most common word is 宙返りをする.

とんぼ結び brings up a few Japanese knots on Google images. The dragonfly knot in the picture is the one I'd most like to be able to tie. I'm usually terrible at tying any kind of knot, but I'll make a special effort to master this one just to show off (or be the weird guy in the corner at parties).

I rented a Geiger counter dosimeter last month to find out what the level of radiation is like in this area. It's a little difficult to read too much into the results as I don't have reliable data on the level of natural radiation. I also can't guarantee the device is perfectly calibrated.

The results ranged from 0.08 μSv/hr (microsievert per hour) around Suwa Lake up to 0.14 μSv/hr in the Chino area. Right outside my house was 0.12 μSv/hr, which puts me at just under the internationally recommended limit. As you probably know, the Japanese government rewrote their limits following the events of March 11th and so I'm far below what would be considered dangerous.

Assuming my readings are accurate, it is interesting to note that the Suwa City Office records the radiation level at 0.05 μSv/hr or pretty much what you would have expected prior to the Fukushima incident. That reflects the trend across Japan: the government consistently records lower levels than the generally accepted amount. The reason is that the public officials set up their equipment up on the top of the city and town offices when they really should be recording what's happening at ground level. Readings made in the air, on the road and on top of soil will produce significantly different results.

I'm not overly worried about the radiation in Nagano, though I am now very careful to check exactly from where in Japan my food is coming from. The situation in the east is a different matter, though the officials and the media are working hard to play things down. What they can't stop is the incredible amount of discussion and debate going on across the Internet. The question is who do you trust?