Japan in the Summer

So, over the last several weeks my most prominent thought about Japan's summer had to do with how insanely hot and humid and miserable it feels. However, after my recent trip to Kyoto (which was no less hot) I was reminded that the summer time is also beautiful in Japan. For everything there is a season - especially in Japan where the decor and diet follow the climate - and I almost missed out on the delights of summer.

So  here is my list of the things I will miss when summer comes to an end.

The Greenery

There are two different kinds of green which I are a part of Japan's summer: the light green of sunflowers reaching for the sun (shown in the picture above) and the dark green of moss and gardens coming to life in the shade.

 

The Cicadas

Every time I hear the cicadas I think of this scene in Kenshin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jk39k0kInk) and in a Japanese summer that is every time I go outside. In fact, the cicadas in the park near my house are often loud enough for me to hear them through my apartment walls in the morning. Yet there weren't any cicadas in the spring.

Summer flowers

Spring also had lovely flowers like cherry blossoms, roses, tulips, hydrangea, etc... But the perpetual green and blossoms of the summer is a different kind of amazing. Instead of being beautiful because of their contrast with the surroundings like spring flowers are, summer flowers are satisfying because of their complete assimilation into the greenery around them. They just seem to fit. In church every Sunday the older women bring flowers (which, of course, perfectly match the outdoor season) and the summer bouquets are, by far, my favorite because of the fullness of life that they display.

 

Yukata

The yukata is a traditional Japanese outfit which is the summer equivalent of a kimono. There are girl and boy yukatas and you can usually find dozens of people wearing them at fireworks displays or festival (which occur almost every week in the summer). They are just as pretty as the flowers of the summer - beautiful in their own right and yet the perfect compliment for the decor of a festival. You can always hear if someone in a yukata has gone all out because the traditional yukata is worn with a wooden flip-flop that makes a unique sound when you walk.

Sightseeing and History

Let's not forget sightseeing. While the weather may be unbelievably hot, summer time does mean that everything is green: trees, bushes, grasses, and vines. They are the perfect accent for the ancient wooden buildings in which are central to Japanese sightseeing adventures. (The photo below with the car is intended to demonstrate how narrow the streets are in some cities.)

Families

      Summer time is also a time when most children have less school, meaning that you can see more families together on vacations. For anyone who enjoys people watching, I think you will agree that is is much more fun to see the energy of delighted children and their families. Such unmitigated delight is contagious. I see them in parks, at the beach, at festivals, and on in shopping malls.

Stone Gardens

The zen rock gardens are very different from the picture that comes to mind at the term "garden". These gardens are known as "dry landscape" gardens which, according to the Bilingual Dictionary for Japanese Garden Terms, is a miniature landscape composed of carefully arranged rocks, moss, pruned trees and bushes with a ground-cover of gravel or sand that is raked to represent ripples in water. One of the placards we passed also described them this way, "recordings of unaffected landscapes using natural materials to recreate the scene".

Often these gardens are intended as objects of contemplation and can be viewed from a seat outside of the garden. One of these gardens is located in Kyoto on temple grounds and has eleven rocks arranged in such a way that you can never see all eleven rocks except from an aerial view (which is not available). It is said that if you find a way to view all eleven rocks then you have reached enlightenment. The rock map above is not that garden, but is another garden on the grounds of Nijo Castle with a similar pretext. You can see from the placard above that each rock has a name and purpose, yet from every angle, one of the smaller rocks is obscured (as you can sample from the two photos below that I took from two different angles). 

This art form came to Japan almost a millennia ago alongside Buddhism, and has been the subject of classical texts and central to such traditions as the tea ceremony. Some of the most famous of these gardens in Japan are in Kyoto (such as Ryoan-ji) and date back to the fifteenth century. 

Each garden is given an incredible amount of thought to create an atmosphere of tranquility and significance and even to align the structure with the architecture of the surrounding buildings. Within the garden scene, an scene must also be created in which the rocks can symbolize mountains or boats or creatures floating "in the sea of life". Whole texts have been written as instructions in such art.

Here are compilation examples of such gardens (created by other people):

http://www.bestchoiceschools.com/25-most-inspiring-japanese-zen-gardens/

http://www.insidekyoto.com/kyotos-best-zen-gardens

Here is also a documentary on them by NHK (Japan's equivalent of PBS).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0heK1nRIaks

Nishiki Market

Nishiki Market is another famous spot to visit in Kyoto. It is a long, sheltered street in the heart of the city that dead ends into a shrine. It sells mostly food goods, but there are also plenty of souvenirs and omiyage there as well. My friends and I agree that this was one of our favorite three places in Kyoto, and recommend it as a must-see if you ever come. We visited twice because once was not good enough. 

I think the best way to share this market is through snapshots and brief descriptions. I think a bombardment of short, unexpected, and even surprising things is the best way to share the experience. You will have to imagine the smells: teas, fish, pickles, candy, and fried food. 

Unlike other markets I have been to, this market was not threatening at all. In other countries I have been all but forced into stalls and trapped in. However, in Nishiki the shop keepers stayed back, willing to help but not forcing themselves on potential shopper. 

grilled fish on a stick

miso-soaked vegetables

jelly-confectionary snacks

a water-refridgerator system

artwork made of candy

jelly with pickled plum

chestnuts

beans

different pickled vegetables

try the pickled vegetables

baby octopus on a stick

octopus has a squidgy texture

yukata and kimono

fans

Critters in Kyoto

One of the most famous attractions in the North-East Kyoto is the monkey park. To get to it from Kyoto you take a train to the Arashiyama Park, past the shrine, and buy your tickets to see them. Then you climb a steep switch-back path for about 20 minutes (the hike promises to be stunningly beautiful in the fall, but  muggy and miserable in the summer) until  you reach the top. There you will see a little building with the only words you want to see: air-conditioning.

From that building you can see Macaques scurrying about with all of their furry, pink-faced mischief. At this point I feel obliged to mention that Macaques can be dangerous creatures if they choose to attack, but there were many park employees standing about a surprising amount of signs displaying a "do not" list. The most important - or at least the most prevalent - thing to avoid is showing the monkey that you have food. Do not do that. You are also not supposed to crouch down, look them in the eye, or pet them...

You can, however, feed them apple slices from within the wired off building for one hundred yen. When you finish with the monkeys and the stunning view from the top of the mountain you must make your way down the mountain again to the rest of Arashiyamas activities. For part of the way down (if you are a child) there is even a slide.

The other animal in this tourist town are the cormorants. 

When I was little I read a book called "Ping" which you can now enjoy via YouTube. In the story there is a small section about traditional cormorant fishing (which originated in China but came to Japan a long time ago). In this YouTube rendition you can fast forward to 3:26 to see what I mean.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNKBTOM4Whg

On summer nights you watch this traditional craft from the shore or closer from boats. In the pictures below you can see the small lights on the tourist boats and the great ball of fire on the boat with the birds which is used to give the birds directions.

If you look closely at the pictures below, you can see the birds swimming and fishing in front of the boat. When they are finished fishing they ride on the stern of the ship back to the dock. If you are curious about what a cormorant looks like, then here is a link. 

 http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/c/cormorant/

Here is a video of the process in China on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S6WospJaZk