I'm sure everyone knows about the four seasons and how the system works. It won't hurt to review, though. Like how we learnt in elementary, middle, or high school (or what have you), the Earth is tilted on its rotational axis and this causes the Northern Hemisphere to lean towards the Sun during the summer and the reverse for the Southern Hemisphere. The solstices are when the Earth's hemispheres happen to lean the closest or farthest from the Sun.
So, the June solstice is when the Earth leans the most to the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere. That happens to be on this Monday, at 1:39 AM JST. Too bad that we Tokyoites won't be able to see the Sun at its closest. Yet, that's not all! Since the June solstice also marks the longest day(s) of the year, let's make sure that Sunday and Monday (both with the ultimate daylengths this year: 14 hours, 34 minutes, and 40 seconds) are not a single second wasted! We won't experience this anymore until next year!
Happy solstice!
