April 28, 2020
Migrating swallows tell Japanese people rotation of seasons amid pandemic
Swallows migrating from the south to the Japanese Archipelago are busy making nests from April to May before parenting toward summer.
First groups of swallows, "tsubame" in the Japanese language, flying from Southeast Asia reach the southernmost areas of Japan from late February to early March.
Researches show tsubame can fly a maximum 300 kilometers a day in migrating to the Japanese Archipelago, but they usually fly 20 to 30 kilometers a day from island to island toward Japan.
The season's first appearance of tsubame coming in is an important harbinger of spring in southern to southwestern Japan.
At a farmers' market in the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu, southwestern Japan, many tsubame were seen flying busily between their nests and nearby feeding areas on a clear day late April.
"We are in a pretty fix (for the new corona virus), but they have come to us this year, too, and this is just joyous to us, you see," a shopper said.
With a shiny black body and tail wings as well as a red throat, tsubame birds usually return to the same areas as they stayed in the previous year.
About 20 percent of them return to the same nests as they used the previous year, according to researches, and when their old nests are destroyed or unfound, they make new nests nearby.
Herds of tsubame using the building of the farmers' market as their summer habitat make nests on the wall or around the vents beneath the extended wooden roof. To build new nests, they bring small pieces of mud and straws one by one from fields around the areas.
Reports of infections and deaths of covid-19 kept increasing through April despite a series of measures taken by Japan's government to contain the pandemic. As of April 28, the number of infected people within Japan came to 13,895, while fatal cases totaled 413.
Japan declared a state of emergency across the country on April 7, requesting local government governors to urge residents of their respective regions to try to protest themselves individually from the deadly virus.
They are recommended to wear masks, wash their hands carefully every time on returning home, refrain from going out for nonessential purposes, and take a social distance of about 2 meters in making lines at shopping centers and other public places.
It has become a new custom for people to rub their hands with disinfectants placed at the entrance of shops and public facilities.
As the emergency measures are likely to be extended into May, Japanese people are asked to get accustomed with the series of rules as a "new normal lifestyle" from now on.
"We, the human beings, should explore a way to live with the virus, rather than trying to eliminate it," a famous infectious disease researcher said in a newspaper article.
The ongoing fight against the new virus is expected to be a long battle.
Experts say that Japan must continue efforts not just to contain the disease but also to get the people acquire a social immunity in an attempt to pull out of the pandemic.
The studies of past global epidemics show that the civilizations which lived with many infectious diseases have proved to be tougher than other civilizations.
The latest pandemic reminds us that the human beings are a part of the nature and cannot live with no linkage with other creatures. The swallows flying vigorously and orderly within their summer habitats in Japan appear to be showing this providence of nature.
Swallows migrating from the south to the Japanese Archipelago are busy making nests from April to May before parenting toward summer.
First groups of swallows, "tsubame" in the Japanese language, flying from Southeast Asia reach the southernmost areas of Japan from late February to early March.
Researches show tsubame can fly a maximum 300 kilometers a day in migrating to the Japanese Archipelago, but they usually fly 20 to 30 kilometers a day from island to island toward Japan.The season's first appearance of tsubame coming in is an important harbinger of spring in southern to southwestern Japan.
At a farmers' market in the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu, southwestern Japan, many tsubame were seen flying busily between their nests and nearby feeding areas on a clear day late April.
"We are in a pretty fix (for the new corona virus), but they have come to us this year, too, and this is just joyous to us, you see," a shopper said.
With a shiny black body and tail wings as well as a red throat, tsubame birds usually return to the same areas as they stayed in the previous year.
About 20 percent of them return to the same nests as they used the previous year, according to researches, and when their old nests are destroyed or unfound, they make new nests nearby.
Herds of tsubame using the building of the farmers' market as their summer habitat make nests on the wall or around the vents beneath the extended wooden roof. To build new nests, they bring small pieces of mud and straws one by one from fields around the areas.Reports of infections and deaths of covid-19 kept increasing through April despite a series of measures taken by Japan's government to contain the pandemic. As of April 28, the number of infected people within Japan came to 13,895, while fatal cases totaled 413.
Japan declared a state of emergency across the country on April 7, requesting local government governors to urge residents of their respective regions to try to protest themselves individually from the deadly virus.They are recommended to wear masks, wash their hands carefully every time on returning home, refrain from going out for nonessential purposes, and take a social distance of about 2 meters in making lines at shopping centers and other public places.
It has become a new custom for people to rub their hands with disinfectants placed at the entrance of shops and public facilities.As the emergency measures are likely to be extended into May, Japanese people are asked to get accustomed with the series of rules as a "new normal lifestyle" from now on.
"We, the human beings, should explore a way to live with the virus, rather than trying to eliminate it," a famous infectious disease researcher said in a newspaper article.The ongoing fight against the new virus is expected to be a long battle.
Experts say that Japan must continue efforts not just to contain the disease but also to get the people acquire a social immunity in an attempt to pull out of the pandemic.
The studies of past global epidemics show that the civilizations which lived with many infectious diseases have proved to be tougher than other civilizations.The latest pandemic reminds us that the human beings are a part of the nature and cannot live with no linkage with other creatures. The swallows flying vigorously and orderly within their summer habitats in Japan appear to be showing this providence of nature.
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