Summer Mythology Forest

Deep within a forest where no one enters, everything is wrapped in darkness. You can hear the calls of insects and birds, and the whisper of plants rubbing softly in the wind. In the darkness of night, I felt both awe and fear. The “Himebotaru” — a native firefly species of Japan — flicker through the summer forest, their brief, rhythmic glows transforming the woods into something that feels almost sacred. The sight is so beautiful that it dissolves the fear of the dark. Their light, lasting only about ten days each summer, is the pulse of life itself. As I walked deeper into the forest, I felt as if I had reached the entrance to a divine sanctuary. There, in that sacred darkness, a mythical world quietly revealed itself.