Summer in Japan: How I'm Celebrating (and Surviving) the Heat

1) Plenty of drinks. Especially Vitamin Water (my favorite), Aquarius, and Pocari Sweat. The teachers that I work with and I have been lugging 2L bottles of tea, water and sports drinks to school.  It makes sense and is way more practical than buying a billion vending machine drinks each day.

2) Yukata searching. I finally bought my first yukata at Uniqlo in Tokyo last week. A yukata is a Japanese garment, similar to a kimono. But yukatas are much cooler because they are designed for the summer.  The best part was that I got it on sale for 2900yen (about $29)!

Kiyomizudera, Kyoto
July 18, 2010

3) Staying inside whenever possible instead of going out. It’s true. It has been just too hot and muggy to go outside. Oh, and air conditioner. Lots of air conditioner. The AC has been blasting in my apartment every minute I’ve been in it for the past month or so.

4) Umbrella buying. It’s interesting how umbrellas never disappear in Japan. You’d think that there would be a season here when umbrellas aren’t necessary.  That doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact, I’m seeing just as many umbrellas nowadays as I did during the winter. July was rainy season in Japan so having an umbrella then was pretty crucial. Now it’s August, and while the rain has subsided, it’s still common to see people using umbrellas to shade their faces from the sun.  When I visited Kyoto two weeks ago, it seemed like everyone was using umbrellas (including me).  Kyoto is one of the hottest places in Japan during the summer because it is surrounded by mountains.

5) Overusing the words “atsui” and “mushiatsui”. “Atsui” is the Japanese word for “hot” and “mushiatsui” is the Japanese word for “humid” or “muggy”. I’ve been hearing (and using) these words countless times each day for the past month. Once the weather cools down, it’ll be back to “samui!” . . . “It’s cold!”

6) Tons of ice cream. The other day I conquered the “triple challenge” at Baskin Robbins. If you buy two scoops of ice cream you can get the third one for free . . . that is if you can handle the challenge. It was pretty intense, but I was able to do it. And soon (maybe already), they’ll start making the snowman summer special: two scoops of ice cream stacked on one another, decorated like a snowman, and placed in a cup.

7) Ume juice making. Ume are small Japanese fruits that resemble apricots. They can be used to make umeshu, a Japanese liquor, when they are green and ripe. Instead I made a basic juice, using only ume and sugar. They say you can drink the juice after three months, but supposedly it’s better if you wait for one year. I’ve had mine brewing for about a month and a half and I think I’ll wait a year to see how it turns out. 

It's important for the ume to be completely dried out before using them to make juice.
Photo: <http://beyondboulder.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/ume-jam/>.

8) Trying a variety of cool Japanese summer desserts (most of them courtesy of my Japanese teacher, of course).

Strawberry flavored kakigori (shaved ice). This is a little different from shaved ice in the states because kakigori often contains sweetened condensed milk.  Sounds unappealing, but is actually really tasty!

Kakigori at Kinkakuji, Kyoto
July 19, 2010

Azuki shiratama: Shiratama dumplings are small, white, chewy, and sweet. They are made of glutinous rice flour. Mixed with azuki beans, this makes a light, healthy dessert.

Anmitsu: A cool dessert made of small clear jelly squares, fruit, and anko (bean paste). It’s really healthy!

9) Listening to the cicadas. A tell-tale sign that summer has started in Japan is when the buzzing of the cicada insects returns.  Their sounds have oddly enough become a kind of background music to my life during the summers in Japan. I even heard the familiar drone of cicadas in the background of a drama I watched here last summer.  Next year, when I hear the cicadas again, I'll be packing my bags to go home and getting ready for the next adventure!

Forget Trick-or-Treating, I'd Rather be at Baskin Robbins . . .

Most of the people I talk to here tell me that Japanese people don't celebrate Halloween-no costumes, haunted houses, or trick-or-treating.  However, my experience today made me think otherwise.  One of my students invited me to go to Baskin Robbins with her (commonly referred to as  "31" in Japan) to get the Halloween special. 

I knew I was in for a treat when I walked into Baskin Robbins and felt like I was in an American Halloween store.  The workers wore pumpkin hats and the entire store was decked out in Halloween stuff.  Banners with ghosts and pumpkins on them hung from the ceiling and there was even a stuffed pumpkin dressed like a witch near the entrance (hmm).  And of course there were special Halloween ice cream flavors.  I forget the names of the flavors I chose, but one had POP ROCKS  in it and one was filled with mini peanut butter cups. 

After I paid for my ice cream (590 yen...a little expensive but so worth it), the lady at the cash register held out a plastic pumpkin and told me to pull out two scratch tickets.  Halloween prizes at Baskin Robbins?  Score!  I didn't win anything, but my friend won a Halloween glow bracelet.  Then we ate our ice creams-I've never felt so bad about eating something in my life.  I was destroying a work of art.  The pumpkin stem was an almond, the pumpkin was a small orange cake that had been carved out, the eyes were small chocolate triangles glued to the pumpkin with whipped cream.  On one side, a little white chocolate ghost stood next to a pile of whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and nuts.  The pumpkin was filled with the pop rocks ice cream and the scoop of peanut butter ice cream hid underneath it, like a stand for the display. 

The excitement didn't end there.  My friend ordered a few Hallowen specials to go.  As I savored the last few bites of my treat, I watched the lady prepare the order.  When she was finished, she carefully placed the sundaes in a paper bag along with a few pieces of dry ice and then sealed the bag quickly.  How cool is that?!  The whole experience was very amusing.  I guess Japan does celebrate Halloween, you just have to know where to look.