Summer in Japan

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The weather is bloody hot and humid. Thank goodness we live and work in airconditioning!! Getting to and from work consists of a mad dash in and out of airconditioned flats, trains and workplaces. You also have to deal with the number of sweaty Japanese men clogging up the trains - Japanese deoderant is terrible. Cam's Australian supply ran out about a week ago and the Japanese stuff is just useless. Luckily, my parents Eddie and Valerie will be here tomorrow night with a fresh supply from Oz.

Apart from the horribly hot weather, Japan really comes alive in the summer time.

There are festivals going on all the time. There are big summer festivals around the major spots in Tokyo, which pride themselves on their amazing fireworks displays. These festivals are called "Hanabi" (which directly translated means 'fire flower'...in other words, fireworks!) You can see so many people wandering around in "Yukata" (summer kimono) and enjoying the festival atmosphere.

In addition to the big Hanabi festivals, each little suburb will have it's own festival (minus the fireworks). These festivals are called "bon odori" and consist of dancing and drumming and eating yakitori (chicken on a stick) and yakisoba (stir-fried noodles).

A couple of weeks ago we went to the local bon odori down the road from us and immersed ourselves in the Japanese culture. There were so many little children parading about in their cute little summer yukata - they were adorable. Last year we went to the same festival with our friend Rosemary and we actually took part in the traditional dancing (unfortunately we forgot our camera last year). This year however, we just watched.

It was amazing just to take in the atmosphere of the festival - women and men (of all ages) doing the traditional 'bon' dances in a circle around the 'taiko' drums. It was a wonderful experience and made me realise just how much I LOVE the day to day traditions in this country.

At the moment, we are on 2 weeks holidays. My parents, Eddie & Valerie arrive on Wednesday and we're going down to Hiroshima and Okayama - so stayed tuned for more updates and photos on this blog.

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Photos

bon odori in Yabe
traditional dances and taiko drumming

mother and daughter in yukata
how cute!!

Comments

[concerned]

nice haircut
who is the muppet with the marine hair cut

[Nadja Zappe]

Hi Meg and Cameron, Wolfgang and me really love your travelblog !! Say hello to Eddie and Valerie and we wait to see them in Germany in September....and maybe you too ?? Sandra told me that you will also come to visit Europe / Germany. So please, don't hesitate to contact us !!!! Greetings from cold and rainy Germany Nadja and Wolfgang