Car, Storm and Summer
Posted July 17th, 2010 in Japan 4 Comments »It’s been a rather stressful three weeks… I was trying to sell my car privately, and all the games between buyers and me were… crazy (><) I mean, I understand that they want to buy the car cheaper, but I want to sell it more expensive.
Although my car had no major problem I had to accept the negotiation and reduce the price, but I think it’s fare. If I were looking to buy an used car, I would also want to make sure if nothing is wrong with the car.
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And, there is something else happened around me recently. I will write about it some other time 🙂
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The storm has gone, and I feel the sunny days are back. The forecast says that we are having another cold morning starting from this Sunday, but I always thought the mornings are always cold in winter. My hometown, Shiga had a strong rain for the last few days, and I contacted my dad to see if everything was ok.
It must be hot and humid over there. Normally the rainy season in Japan is around June, but this year things started slower than usual.
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While staying in Perth I sometimes forget that summer is the rainy season in Japan. In Perth, we hardly get any rain in summer.
I haven’t been back to Japan in summer for 7 years now. It’s because I’ve been avoiding this season, as I don’t like the humid climate. Almost every shops and buildings are air conditioned, but because of the temperature difference on outside and inside the buildings many people get summer cold in Japan this time of the year.
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There are things that I miss about Japan’s summer, such as fireworks, summer festivals, summer food and dessert, going swimming (well, I can do it here in Perth)… Fireworks is the biggest event in summer.
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Many people wear yukata on this day and gather around the shore to enjoy the beautiful sky entertainment and the delicious food from the stalls.
Summer festivals are held at many places across Japan, almost at every suburb. In my town, we have a small festival at the beginning of August every year, and we enjoy the food, games (eg: kingyo-sukui = goldfish scooping), and bon fire and dancing! I have a friend who is learning Yosakoi dance, and she is always excited about this festival each year. Just let you know, Yosakoi is not like other dancing you see on tv (hip-hop, jazz, etc) The style of Yosakoi dance is highly energetic, combining traditional Japanese dance movements with modern music.
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I used to go to the festivals in the neighboring towns (just 10 minutes by bicycle) too, and they have different theme and sometimes karaoke. But, there are always delicious food (I love stall food) and that’s the biggest reason I enjoy the festivals so much.
aa
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One thing I don’t miss about Japan is the humidity in summer. I remember one summer while I was living in the university dormitory and all my shoes in the shoe box went mouldy – almost overnight!
I LOVE fireworks too. I think my favourite fireworks were the Edogawa fireworks. I waited for 8 hours once to get a good spot to sit, but I was glad I did it. The Biwa lake fireworks reflected in the water were quite good too.
I think my favourite festival was Nebuta. The dancing was great and the floats were amazing.
I LOVE yatai food too!! I bought a dutch pancake maker and I’m making takoyaki tonight! It’s perfect yatai food 🙂
Kathy,
Yeah, during the rainy season in Japan you also need to be careful about food poisoning, as the food goes bad very quickly because of the humidity and the heat.
Have you been to Biwa lake fireworks? I’m surprised!!h
Several cities in Shiga which are around Biwa lake do fireworks, and yes they are very beautiful 😀
Yatai food…. takoyaki, okonomiyaki, hiroshima-yaki, shaved ice, crape, yakisoba…. UMMMMMMM (><) I think I want to make takoyaki tomorrow too!
I remember the 0-157 food poisoning with the kaiware daikon…that was big news at the time. I can’t remember whether that was in summer or not…
Do you have a proper takoyaki maker? I’m a kanto person so I’ve never owned a real takoyaki maker. I’ve heard everyone in kansai has one 🙂 Is it true??
Kathy,
No, I don’t have a proper takoyaki machine here 🙁
I bought this on ebay and it said “princes cake makers”, but strangely it got a illustration of octopus :p
Yeah, people say that everyone in Kaisai own at least one takoyaki machine at home, but my house didn’t have.. But, all my friends from Osaka have a takoyaki machine at home, so I think it’s Osaka thing. 😀
I’ve never made takoyaki at home in Japan. I normally buy from stalls.