There are at least three main activities that occupy people in Japan during summertime:
1. Swimming at the pool or the beach
When I first got here, I was surprised to know that swimming pools and beaches are open only during specific periods in a year, i.e., July-August. Boohoo. In the Philippines, save for typhoon seasons, we get to enjoy the pool and the beach 365 days a year. And the waves there won’t look as if they were trying to eat you (see photo at Hasanuma beach below). 😀
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| Aya and Tatay running away from the giant killer waves! Taken in 2005. |
During the one and only time we went to the beach, to our dismay we found out that it was just too crowded for comfort. And as you can see in the photo, the place wasn’t that great at all. And get this, everybody takes a “break” between 12 to 1 pm, and again sometime during mid-afternoon. As in, everybody gets their butts out of the water and waits for the announcement when it’s okay to resume swimming. How KJ is that?!!
2. Attend matsuri or festivals
Lots of dancing in the streets, beautiful floats, people chanting and drinking booze having fun. My favorite is buying food like chikin karaage (fried chicken) and furankufuruto (frankurter) at the stalls. The Tsukuba matsuri is held every year during the last weekend of August or first weekend of September. The giant floats, called “nebuta,” are quite impressive and are worth watching.
3. Watch hanabi, or fireworks
Hanabi = ?? = fireworks. “Hana” is flower, while “bi” is fire. My most favorite of all is the Tsuchiura Fireworks Festival, although it is held in October.
Actually, we don’t even have to wait for festivals to enjoy fireworks. We can do that right at our own frontyard. Here are some photos of Aya enjoying her Hello Kitty-inspired “lusis” fireworks. 🙂
I can’t imagine doing something like this if it wasn’t Christmas or New Year’s eve. Needless to say, doing this made me nostalgic all of a sudden. I just miss the times when I would have fun making the “watusi” pop like crazy and holding the “lusis” as it fires and ebbs away into oblivion.
Japan isn’t famous for beaches, is it? I dont remember having gone seaward when I was there.
Hey (out of topic)… the papers are full of memoirs of Hiroshima which puts across the message that the Japanese are also victims of the war. Do they still like to ask whether we remember their role in it?
same with the beaches here, they’re only open certain times of the year and even in the summer it’s disappointingly cold…
I wouldn’t mind seeing those festivals though; I’m sure they’re very interesting 🙂
If there’s anything I miss about the Philippines besides family and friends, it’s the beautiful beaches (calm blue water, and fine white or off white sand). Back in my hometown, the beach is just a 15 minute tricycle ride. Here , we have to drive for an hour or so to reach the beach , which is disappointing anyway. Not blue waters but more like a grey color, tapos ang laki -laki pa ng alon, and the sand seems to have like a ‘clayish’ feel to it. Buti nalang, hindi ako marunong lumangoy, hehehe.
really? beaches also have a timetable in japan??? weird!
but the sand looks like muck… i really can’t imagine enjoying myself on a beach that does not closely remember our phil. beaches. but when in rome…
Anna, it wouldn’t have been worth it, hehe. Masyadong turbulent ang seas dito.
Funny, now that you mentioned it, I just realized that almost nobody ever talks about the war, or the atomic bombs at all – at least those whom I’ve encountered so far. I have been to both Nagasaki and Hiroshima atomic bomb museums – those were experiences I would never forget. The images and artifacts there just burned into my memory.
There’s an upcoming festival at the end of this month. I hope to post pics and videos so you can have a view. 🙂
Exactly! You know it took us about 3 hours to get to that place, only to find a very crowded beach with gray-colored water and giant waves.
Wala talaga tatalo sa ganda ng beaches natin, hehe. Biased ba tayo? lol 😀
Muck indeed! Know what, I would love to go to the indoor beach at Fukushima or elsewhere – I bet that would be way better than the real thing!
I love the beach but unfortunately where I am we only have 3 months to enjoy – lakes or rivers pa 🙂 The other problem is my wife doesn’t like the tan hehe 🙂
If only for the fireworks, I would love to go to Japan in October! I simply LOVE fireworks! 🙂
Tsk. I tan too easily, which also gives me second thoughts about spending time at the beach.
Anyway, once in a while should be enough. 🙂
Naku, magsasawa ka rito sa fireworks! There are a number of fireworks festivals here, especially in summer.