Light Rains Sometimes Fall: A British Year Through Japan’s 72 Seasons

By Lev Parikian

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See the British year afresh and experience a new way of connecting with nature – through the prism of Japan’s seventy-two ancient microseasons.

Across seventy-two short chapters and twelve months, writer and nature lover Lev Parikian charts the changes that each of these ancient microseasons (of a just a few days each) bring to his local patch – garden, streets, park and wild cemetery.

From the birth of spring (risshun) in early February to ‘the greater cold’ (daikan) in late January, Lev draws our eye to the exquisite beauty of the outside world, day-to-day.

Instead of Japan’s lotus blossom, praying mantis and bear, he watches bramble, woodlouse and urban fox; hawthorn, dragonfly and peregrine. But the seasonal rhythms – and the power of nature to reflect and enhance our mood – remain.

By turns reflective, witty and joyous, this is both a nature diary and a revelation of the beauty of the small and subtle changes of the everyday, allowing us to ‘look, look again, look better’.

It is perfect gift to read in real time across the British year.
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‘A fresh new look at the microseasons of nature’s calendar, seen through Lev Parikian’s eyes – with his usual humour, attention to detail and beautifully written prose.’ Stephen Moss

‘Buy this book. Plant it somewhere handy and whenever you’re in need of a “spark of joy” pick it up and read a few pages. Its wit will make you smile. It will transport you to a wilder, gentler, more beautiful world.’ Ann Pettifor

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elliott & Thompson
• Release date: Sep 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781783965786

Lev Parikian

Lev Parikian is a writer and conductor from London, England. He spends a lot of time standing in front of people waving his arms in the hope that sounds will materialise. He also spends a lot of time staring at a computer screen in the hope that words will materialise. He lives in London with his [redacted], [redacted], and three domesticated (and, rest assured, entirely neutralised) [redacted]. He has never been to Uzbekistan. His first book, Waving, Not Drowning, a searing exposé of the craft of the orchestral conductor, was published in 2013. His second book, Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear?, a tale of atrocious birdwatching, will be published by Unbound in 2018.