the beginning of fall

Today is the first day of fall(立秋) according to the lunar calendar.
It's still hot, but we already have an autumn sky which is clear and blue. We can hear cicadas churring during the day and crickets start to stridulate in the evening every year at this time.

we have a custom to send a postcard for a midsummer greeting before the first day of fall. After this day, we send a postcard for late-summer greeting. This has declined in recent years.

The Sendai Tanabata Festival(仙台七夕まつり) is being held in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture from August 6th to 8th. Tanabata(the star festival) declined　after the Meiji era, volunteers from merchant in Sendai brought back the festival.

The 92th national high school baseball championship has begun at Koshien Stadium today. Every August forty-nine teams from 47 prefectures, which have survived fierce regional eliminations, compete at the stadium. They play games in the searing summer, even in the fierce midday sun.
The championship is a signature summer event of Japan.