As JP noted in the latest Japan Talk podcast, the weather’s beginning to calm down a bit. Autumn’s coming and we can all look forward to switching off the air-con and opening the windows.

Now is also the time of year that Japan’s countryside sees a splash of colour. The intense greens of summer are beginning to give way to other shades. The rice fields are going yellow as the farmers prepare for harvest, and around the edges of the fields there are clumps of higanbana springing up.

Higanbana (higan, the period around the autumn equinox + hana, flower) are known as red spider lilies in English (and Lycoris radiata in Latin, for the horticulturists). And just in case you might need to know, the bulbs are quite poisonous if eaten.