Word: vernal
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Tokyo's sprawling red-light district, other Japanese revived a rite of spring. For centuries up to 1913, the annual parade of Tokyo's fairest prostitutes had been a vernal harbinger as reliable as the appearance of the first robin. Under U.S. regulations prostitutes are outlawed, but Tokyo's brothels, thinly disguised as "teahouses," still cater to an average of 500 customers nightly. Last week, each leaning on an attendant and trying her best to walk in the traditional graceful gait of her calling, under the weight of a 6-lb. wig and suffocatingly embroidered antique costume...
...principal events slated for the start of the vernal season are Easter vacation (April 2 to April 9) and the baseball opening (April 18). These events are often taken as surer signs of spring than the equinox...