So summer is officially over.
You will take a glance at the date I am posting this and think I am slightly insane for seemingly declaring the obvious. But if you have not lived in Japan before, you will not understand my reluctance to declare summer over. Because up until the two weeks ago, it was still disgustingly sticky and hot.
I laugh at anyone who wants to declare Japan a four season country. I know four seasons- I lived it for 18 years in New Jersey. It is characterized by temperate seasons with reasonable highs in July/August, reasonable lows in January, with a moderate decline and fall of temperature in between. The best I could classify the weather here is as two very distinct seasons of oppressive heat and a bitter chill with nice little transitional periods of temperate weather that bleed into each other. Because best I can tell, Summer here lasted from the first week of May till about October 4.
Especially in Nagoya.
Tajimi, located about 40 minutes by train outside the city in Gifu, besides being famous for ceramics, also has the dubious distinction of being known as the hottest place in Japan. So much so that national news services descend every summer to document it. This just illustrates the heat of the Chubu region in which I reside. And its not the heat that characterized the summer, but the amazing humidity. Humidity with a strength I had never experienced before. I had trouble breathing at times it was so heavy on my skin. Climbing stairs outside had me gasping like I was 70. I never didn’t sweat. I think I lost about 10 pounds from sweating alone.
A charming picture.
But as the first chill finally rolls into Nagoya, and I can finally wear more than a tank top at night again, I find myself reminiscing about the summer. It was hot, yes, but when I stopped complaining like a cranky old woman, there was lots to enjoy. So thinking back, I’ve composed a list of the things I will miss about my first summer in Japan.
1. BBQs
BBQs in Japan are vastly different from the hot dog and hamburger fests that I’m used to. Yes, there is the coolers of beer and soda, inane conversations about the heat, and sparklers, but there are fundamental differences. Like the traditional smashing of the watermelon, which involves blindfolds, a bat, a version of hot or cold, and then consuming smashed up watermelon bits. Or the way Japanese woman do everything possible to stay OUT of the sun, even resorting to sun visors reminiscent of Darth Vader‘s mask, huge floppy hats, and dark black arm guards that cover the whole arm and look amazingly stifling. Odd to me indeed, but the biggest, and most delightful difference, being the food itself.
It’s an array of grilled meats and vegetables that knock any hot dog out of the water. Steamed and grilled on a large charcoal pit, spices and sauces thrown over the entire heap, its like the ultimate stir fry. Then there’s the seafood, and the grilled rice balls, and everything else amazing you can think of. Men stoke huge grill pits with fans as they constantly switch the large assortment of grilled pork and beef with the sliced and sautéed vegetables.
Its an explosion of goodness in your mouth.
After my first one, I left very full and very happy. And despite the heat, I lounged by the lake in Shonai Ryokuchi Park with a beer in my hand, very content.
2. Fireworks
America has fireworks. They are pretty, light up the sky, give you a little thrill. A nice excuse to lay out a picnic blanket with friends and watch the night sky.
But nothing, I repeat NOTHING compares to the fireworks that Japan has.
The best fireworks displays I have seen back in the states compare only to the small fireworks displays in Japan. The big ones, the ones put on in the port of major cities, are fireworks displays the likes I have never seen before. Performances so long that the fireworks need to take an intermission. And the bright colors pack the sky throughout the entire show in a way that is only comparable to the actual finale of ones back home. And the finale? Its nearly overwhelming how awesome it is.
But the entire atmosphere of the event is worth it, even if it weren’t for the dazzling displays. Fireworks are seasonal, not privy to one holiday, so most weekends you will find a fireworks festival of some kind going on. Whether it be in a big city or a small town, the firework festivals has all the usual trappings of festivals in Japan, with the phenomenal food and traditional games. But these events have an extra special touch to it, for a majority of people attend dressed in yukata, or traditional summer kimono. Brightly colored garments with prints that range from the traditional to cutesy (I saw a fair share of Hello Kitty and leopard print ones), everyone walks around in them, a sea of color and texture, some girls with their hair styled just for the festival.
It is that nice extra element that makes the firework festivals just that more special.
3. Relaxing Outdoor Activities
Japan is a highly industrialized country, there is no denying that fact. Most greenery in cities are relegated to parks, and most suburbs look so much like the city that they bleed unnoticeably into each other. But Japan is also a country of beautiful mountains and breathtaking vistas, so when you can make your way out to get to it, they are absolutely worth it.
Being burned out on city life for such a reason, I decided to spend my summer vacation camping in the Japanese Alps. And as someone who is a professed lover of city life, I was amusingly surprised by the grand desire I had to see the mountains. But stressed from work and the heat, I was ready for a change of scenery. So, backpack in hand, I took the first train to Nagano and then a two hour bus ride out to Kamikochi, one of Japan’s national parks.
And as soon as we got there, I knew the trip was absolutely worth it.
Not only are the Japanese Alps snow and cloud capped peaks in breathtakingly rich greens, but the trails are still wild and fairly untouched. The air is clear and crisp, and the mountain streams that cut through are refreshingly cold and so amazingly blue it would not be out of place in the Caribbean. I spent a week of hiking and mountain climbing and attempting to wade in the freezing cold mountain water. We would walk all day, and then wander back to out tent and trade stories and grilled meat over our camp fire. And when I say walk all day, I actually mean it. One day we left our campsite at 10 am and didn’t come back till about 6 pm. I think we walked about 13 miles that day, but the mountains were so beautiful I never noticed the distance.
When we finally left Nagano, all the stress I almost didn’t know I had was melted away, and I was left feeling refreshed. It was so peaceful and rejuvenating that I cant even inject any snark into this section. All I know is that I cant wait for next summer to explore the rest of the mountains.
4. Beer Garden
The nomihodai, or all you can drink, is a popular concept in Japan. Bars do it very frequently, mostly because even though the Japanese are heavy drinkers, they don’t consume large quantities. But the gist of a nomihodai is what you would expect: all you can drink in a certain period of time for a set price.
The beer gardens take this to the next level. Set up on the roofs of large buildings all around Nagoya, it is really the only “outdoor seating” in Japan. But 30 stories up, its worth the view. You take the elevator up to the roof, play a flat rate of about 3000 yen, and get two or three hours of nomihodai (all you can drink) and tabehodai (all you can eat). You get lead to a table with a small grill for grilling your own meat, and after plopping down you bags, then proceed to the beer taps and buffet. You can get all you want of most Japanese beers (hence the name), and the buffet has every kind of rice and yakisoba and fried food you could want. There is also large sections for yakiniku of raw meat and vegetables, which you load up onto your plate and take back to your table. You then grill it yourself and enjoy fresh grilled meat and veggies dripping with sauce and still hot from the burner.
And if this sounds like something only for salary men and drunk gaijin, you are sadly mistaken. Despite being centered around drinking, I have seen so many families with children and elders at these things. They come as group and watch their parents drink, all while enjoying the large amounts of food or the cheesy entertainment of third rate JPOP wannabes.
But sitting on the rooftop in the sticky Nagoya heat, smoke from the small grills wafting around, a chilly mug of Asahi in my hand, and infectious JPOP blaring from the speakers, it’s the only place to be on a summer night in Japan.
6. Fans
I have to hand it to Japan. Keeping hand fans en vogue is one of the brightest ideas I’ve come across in the stifling heat. Though the thought to me evokes images of wraparound porches in the bayou, or ladies in Baptist churches with big hats, every man, woman and child in Japan uses a fan in the heat. In fact, most companies hand them out with advertisements on it, much in the way that they hand out tissues during allergy season (the Japanese are nothing if not excellent at marketing). And where at first I found it odd, I eventually became a full convert by the practicality of it.
Though its not necessarily something I will miss, fans are something I was very grateful to have this past season. It saved my hair, my makeup, and honestly, my sanity this summer. Sitting on long train rides in the high temperatures, or waiting in crowded areas, it relieved the heat in a way I thought nothing else could.
And for that I think I will for the rest of my life use hand fans.
So that is my final salute to Japan’s summer. The heat and the high cost of electricity from running my ac all the time may be gone, but the memories remain. And as with everything, hindsight only offers the good memories, as the bad ones fall away. So as we go full swing into fall, there are many things I will miss about Summer in the land of the rising sun.
But the humidity will definitely not be one of them.
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