Summer...??

In Australia, the seasons are very straightforward. On December 1, summer starts, on March 1, autumn, June 1, winter, September 1, spring.

In Japan it seems to be a more fluid thing.

I asked several Japanese people when summer started; they seemed to agree 'after the rainy season'. And the rainy season finishes when the Meteorological Department officially declares it so. This is generally in mid-July (this year, it was last Monday or Tuesday - July 13 or 14), and people generally agreed that summer finished around the end of August.

So the actual feeling of 'this is high summer' is about 1 1/2 months. And since Japan likes its seasonal things, this pocket of time is famous for several things:

eating watermelon and cold noodles (maybe not at the same time ^_^)

watching fireworks shows

many festivals

fans - a lot of stores etc give out free promotional fans, so you see quite a few people carrying them

wearing yukata (light summer kimono)

eating eel (which supposedly gives you energy against the summer heat)

In fact, there is even an eel DAY when everyone is supposed to eat eel for stamina. This day is called 'doyo no ushinohi' and it's a nice little coup for the eel restaurants. Apparently, eel day was yesterday, and I was oblivious... I did notice a lot of packages of eel in the supermarket though.

I love summer. It's also the season of random beer gardens opening around the place. Big thumbs up from me. ^_^