On the Vernal Equinox, day and night are nearly the same length.
Bipiku, adjusting a yoga pose beneath the weeping cherry tree, asked Sonchō:
“Do you think there’s such a thing as a day that’s neither perfect nor imperfect?”
“Today is exactly that.”
Sonchō said, unwrapping a sakura rice cake.
“Day and night, split evenly in half. Neither one winning nor losing. The one day this world shows its most honest face.”
Bipiku looked up at the sky. The clouds were thin, the light spreading flat and even. Neither perfectly clear nor overcast — a sky caught somewhere in between.
“A day like that… sounds easy.”
“It would be too easy if every day were like that. Maybe that’s why it only comes once a year.”
For the first time, Bipiku let her pose collapse and sat down. She was given a piece of the sakura rice cake and put it in her mouth.
It tasted sweet.
Margin note: On that day alone, Bipiku didn’t worry about her own shadow.
【Today’s Drop】
- Vernal Equinox Day (March 20): A national holiday in Japan, when day and night are nearly equal in length. A day meant to celebrate nature and cherish living things.
This is an English translation of “昼と夜が等しい日”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).