October

October: the memories of summer fade as the days shorten, the sun loses its bite, leaves change their colors, trees lose their leaves, and a chill cuts through the night air. October, and in Japan we look forward to the autumn palette of the koyo―still some weeks away in Tokyo. But we can already taste the fall flavors of grilled mackerel pike and aki-aji beer, roasted chestnuts and sweet potato and sweets flavored with pumpkin and pear. October, and we’re all a little older. After the vibrant exuberance of summer, autumn is restrained, a season of bittersweet beauty that points to the approaching winter, the new year and the onward march of time.