Reply #14: Not too bad for this time of year. [View All]

[Matsubara]

Normally, we should be entering the rainy season which means 80 degrees and high humidity, with rain almost every day, but the rain conveyer belt has not moved this far north yet, so we are enjoying sunshine and temps in the mid to upper 80s, and even the humidity is not so bad (for here).


We used to live in a more inland, more urban area, and it was significantly hotter, with little cooling at night. Now we live close to the beach, abutting a good-sized pine forest, so the ocean breezes through the pines have a nice cooling effect. (the water is not cold like in California, so the effect is not as pronounced, but it's at least several degrees cooler, especially noticeable at night, since there is a lot less asphalt and concrete giving off residual heat.

One of the sad things about Japan is that there are too few shade trees in the cities. Even though it is a wet country with very good soil, they tend to plant very small ornamental trees, or prune the bigger trees annually so that they provide little shade. I think it's partly a cultural preference - my MIL remarked on how "wild" and "overgrown" all the trees in California and Florida were. Also, there are typhoons here, so flying branches could be a problem. But there were much more severe hurricanes in Florida, and the pruning wasn't so severe there.

Here's one of the tree-lined streets near Miami. I think these are banyans.