日間賀島

It's still warm enough to swim in the Pacific Ocean from the coasts of Himakajima and Shinojima islands off the Chita Peninsula, south of Nagoya city.

The main beach on Himakajima is Sunset Beach at the West Port of the island. The beach has a safety barrier in the water to prevent swimmers being swept away.

Himakajima is an easy and pleasant day trip from Nagoya and there are a number of ryokan and small hotels on both islands if you wish to stay longer and really experience the tranquillity and excellent seafood.



Both Himakajima ad Shinojima depend on fishing, mainly octopus and fugu (blowfish) for their livelihood with tourism as a secondary source of income. The islands attract amateur anglers and water-sports enthusiasts throughout the year. It is possible to experience a hands-on fishing trip with professionals and learn how to cast nets and catch octopus.



On Himakajima, bicycle hire for the day is available for 500 yen and visitors can cycle round the island or enjoy the 5km walk. There is an excellent sunset at the western port, where most of the island's development is located and an equally spectacular sunrise at the eastern port. The small town at the western port around Sunset Beach is built up into the cliffs and still has some attractively painted weatherboard houses.

Access

There are Meitetsu ferry connections to Himakajima from Kowa (20 mins), Irago, Shinojima and Morozaki (10 mins).



From Nagoya Station or Kanayama Station take a Meitetsu train to Kowa (47 mins), then it is a 5 minute walk left out of the station to Kowa Port or jump on the free shuttle bus. From Toyohashi take a Meitetsu bus to Irago (90 mins) then a ferry to the island (30 mins).
Return fares on the ferry to Himakajima & Shinojima are presently 2,270 yen.

Tourist Information
Tel: 0569 68 2388


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選挙

Yukio Hatoyama, and the left-of-center Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) swept to a landslide victory in yesterday's general election, ending virtually 50 years of unbroken LDP power and reducing Taro Aso and his party to just over 100 seats in the Japanese Diet.



On a turnout of just under 50%, the DPJ is projected to win over 300 seats in the 480-seat Diet. Prime Minister Taro Aso is reportedly set to resign as head of the LDP to take responsibility for the disastrous result.

62-year-old Hatoyama replaced Ichiro Ozawa as leader of the DPJ earlier this year, after the latter became embroiled in a financing scandal involving political donations from a medium-sized construction company.

Yukio Hatoyama is a graduate of Tokyo University with a PhD from Stanford University in the US.

今週の日本

After Decades, Japan Prepares for Likely New Ruling Party

New York Times

A New Path for Japan

New York Times

Japan's penniless young men not good enough for Taro Aso

Guardian

Japanese economy hit by 'double nightmare'

Times on Line

Unemployment hits all-time high of 5.7%

Japan Times

Aso Mining’s Indelible Past: Verifying Japan’s Use of Allied POWs Through Historical Records

Japan Focus

Au Japon, les législatives augurent d'un virage politique historique

Le Monde

Japan braced for political earthquake

BBC

Lost in Japan’s Election Season: The Economy

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Japan icon Nakamura ready to take on Spain

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Japan Statistics

Average class size, elementary school, OECD member states.

Luxembourg: 15.6 students
Italy: 18.3
Denmark: 20
OECD Average: 21.5
USA: 23.6
England: 25.8
Japan: 28.2

Source: Asahi Shinbun

Average Internet Connection Speed (mbps), by country

1. South Korea - 20.4
2. Japan - 15.8
3. Sweden - 12.8
4. Netherlands - 11

28. USA - 5.1

Source: AFP-Jiji

In 2008, there were 223,981 medical "near misses" in Japan. A near miss is a mistake that could lead to serious consequences.

That is an increase of 14,765 over 2007.

Source: Yomiuri Shinbun


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日の丸　性犯罪　自民党



It’s official: two days before they receive their worst drubbing in over 50 years, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is utterly desperate.

I came home last evening to find the glossiest and most copiously-sized election-related pamphlet I have received so far in my mailbox. It was from the LDP. It may as well have been from local right-wing nutcases.

It has two photos on the front: one, at the top, of a not-one-hair-out-of-place, rigorously Soviet-style, LDP meeting at which an LDP dignitary, perhaps the madly unpopular Aso Taro, is at the podium under two flags: the Rising Sun (AKA Hi-no-Maru) and the LDP party flag. The caption: “A general meeting of the LDP with the Rising Sun flag.”

Then it shows another photo at bottom: an (unruly?) line of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) characters waving to an audience – minus any flags on stage! The caption: “A general meeting of the DPJ without the Rising Sun flag.”

Between the photos reads as follows:


(Note: The Japan Teachers’ Union is the arch enemy of the LDP and has been at loggerheads with it for decades over, among other things, the singing of the national anthem and the raising of the Rising Sun flag – which it considers relics of a war of aggression – in schools.)

From thereon in, the tirade is all about the Japan Teachers’ Union, and the DPJ doesn’t get a lot of mention. But that’s because we now know, thanks to the cover, that “DPJ = JTU.” Got it?

Inside, the pamphlet carries on the shrill panicky tone of the cover, saying how the JTU supports education that paints the Japanese as cruel tyrants in China in the years before and during WW2, and tries to stop Japanese children loving their own country.



And then it really scrapes the bottom of the barrel: sexual deviancy - involving kids! From page 5, the sanctimonious tone adopted throughout gives way to a gasp and shudder of scandalized Fox News-style horror.

According to the Liberal Democratic Party, the JTU occupies the extremest of positions regarding sex education, including support for the right to choose one’s own gender.

This is “backed up” by a picture of two dolls with their clothes half pulled off, which it states were used to teach about sex and childbirth to children. And, as a result of this heinous education, a mother in Fukuoka had to pull her first year elementary school son – who had been subjected to such outrageous tuition – off his little sister, onto whose netherparts he was pressing his penis! And, worse still, a mother from Miyazaki was subject to the indignity of witnessing her third year elementary school son having gay sex with a classmate in his room (so it says). And all because of the JTU, and sex education, and the DPJ, and, and … and … the fact that Japanese voters are thoroughly fed up with shameless LDP bullshit.

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数珠回し

In Kyoto, following the official Bon holidays - the time of year when one's ancestors return for their annual visit that climaxes with the Daimonji festival - there are smaller, neighborhood festivals every year for children known as Jizo Bon.

One of the highlights of these block parties, which feature games and snacks and gifts for the kids and are held throughout Kyoto, is the passing of the rosary beads.

Typically, a priest will come during the festival and chant the sutra in front of the stone Jizo and the altar. Close to him, the assembled children and adults sit in a circle.

In time to the chanting, they pass a string of wooden beads around. When the largest of the 108 stringed beads - a large piece with a tassle - arrives in front of you, you bring it to your forehead in supplication.

The entire ceremony lasts roughly 15 minutes.

Clicking on the top photo will allow you to see the beads.

The photo below shows the stone Jizo, just above and to the right of the priest's shaved head.


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一見客　 おおきに財団

In the Kyoto of old, a first time customer （一見客、ichigen san）was ignored at best, turned away if he was clueless and pushy enough to actually attempt to gain entry.

These elitist establishments tended to be limited to Gion or Pontocho - and were often high-end restaurants or the tea houses where geisha and maiko entertained.

These establishments were few in number. In addition to a large corporate, university, and mid-size business population, Kyoto has had and continues to have a strong working class presence. Most bars and restaurants never practiced an "ichigen san" style door policy.

For those that did, however, without an "introduction" （紹介、shokai）from someone known to the establishment, you and however many millions of yen you may have had were not welcome.

With the exception of the tea houses （お茶屋、ochaya）- where an introduction is still required - this is a thing of the past.

However, in shocking news, the leading online English-language venue devoted to Japanese culture, history, tourism, and more (hint: you're reading its blog right now) was just turned away in an attempt at scoring an interview with a geisha.

Kyoto's Ookini Zaidan - "ookini" is Kyoto dialect for thank you, and is famously used by geisha and shop owners - did not consider JapanVisitor.com and its many thousands of readers worthy of entrance.

Ookini Zaidan is city group whose goal is to promote and preserve "hanamachi" (i.e., the geisha) culture. One of its two founding organizations was the Kyoto City Tourist Association, and it receives funding from Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, Kyoto Chamber of Commerce, and Industry and other tourism-related organizations.

A terse phone call from the group inquired just who we were （何方でしょうか、donata desho ka?）and our purpose （目標は、mokuhyo wa?）.

Then, as if on cue, the gentleman sucked on his teeth and said, "Without an introduction, this is a bit difficult" （紹介がないとやはりちょっと難しい、shokai ga nai to yahari chotto muzukashii).

As all American (and other) trade negotiators have learned, "muzukashii" (lit. "difficult") does not really mean difficult, but rather "impossible."

So, to our friends in geisha officialdom, a hearty "Ookini!" Thanks (for nothing)!


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ジャパンニュースレター

Sign up to the Japan newsletter to receive all the latest news on our free Japan giveaways, special offers and Japan competitions.

Take a look at August's Japan Visitor newsletter to see what you will receive in your mailbox.



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仙台市営地下鉄

The Sendai subway system consists of just one line - the 15km, 17 station Namboku Line (South-North line).



The Namboku Line opened in 1987. The new Tozai Line (East-West line) is presently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2015.

The Namboku line is divided into 5 sections and fares range from 200-350 yen. The line centers on JR Sendai Station which connects to Tokyo via Shinkansen.



Sendai City Transportation Bureau
1-4-15 Kimachi-dori
Aoba-ku
Sendai-shi
Miyagi
980-0801
Tel: 022-224-5111

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錦糸町　お祭り



I stayed this weekend at an address in Kinshicho, a relatively impoverished town in Tokyo's east end. I was awoken Sunday by what I thought first was a crow. As I listened, I realized it was human: a constant, strident, parade-ground-type shouting of a single voice, repeating the same words over and over.

I blearily went out onto the veranda to see what the commotion was, and was surprised to see a festival in full - but somehow listless - swing, with scores of men shouldering a large, ornate omikoshi portable Shinto shrine down a deserted backstreet.

I say "surprised," because the yelling that had woken me up did not suggest a festival. The sounds of Japanese festivals are group sounds, with the loud chanting of "Wasshoi!" all in unison, and the commotion of the crowd following. This, rather, was the lone, unpleasant, amplified voice that conjured up a villainous harangue in an old war movie rather than a scene of neighborhood festivity.

The shouter was a middle-aged man wearing a huge, white megaphone, who led the procession, walking backwards hollering at it in his ugly, incessant staccato. Strangely, the "revelers" were almost silent, rhythmically hoisting the omikoshi, but with little vigor, delegating what should have been the communal festive voice to the cawing of the "sergeant major."

Stranger still, there was no one following the procession, besides an old homeless man carting his few worldly possessions and mumbling to himself, and a garbage truck: both parties, I presume, just happening to be there when I looked out.

So there it was: an almost silent crowd of seemingly duty-bound shrine-bearers following a fascist with a bullhorn down a deserted backstreet overhung by a grimy overhead highway with hardly anyone in tow outside the happi-wearing core of listless "revelers."

And that pink afro wig?!

I shot a little footage, rubbed my eyes, and went back to bed, to dream something a little sweeter.

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今週の日本

Paper Bags as Fashion Statements

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Japan's H1N1 cases at flu epidemic stage

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Does Japan still need the US?

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China 'rejects' Japan navy visit

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As Japan’s Mediums Die, Ancient Tradition Fades

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Tokyo says 17 sponsors backing 2016 Olympic bid

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Over the recently ended Bon holidays, fatalities on the nation's roads fell to a record low.

Between August 7th - 17th, 118 people died in car accidents. That is a 23% decrease from the same period in the previous year.

Source: Yomiuri Shinbun

In other transportation news, Japan Railways (JR) announced the number of passengers during the Bon Period (August 7th - 18th). JR recorded a 8% decline over the same period in 2008.

The total number of riders was one million three hundred and sixty thousand.

Source: Asahi Shinbun

In the first six months of 2009, 1,446 people were caught possessing, using, or selling marijuana. That is an increase of 256 compared with the same period in 2008.

84.9% of those were first-time offenders.

Source: Yomiuri Shinbun


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西芳寺ー苔寺

Kyoto's Saihoji Temple was originally the summer home of Prince Shotoku, and dates to at least the founding of Kyoto some 1200 years ago.

It is the most expensive of all of Kyoto's many temples and shrines. It is rather hard to get to. You need to make reservations in advance. If you are late, you will be denied entry. Once there, you will be made to kneel and trace the sutras on a low table for about 30 minutes (the Chinese characters are written out for you; all you need to do is trace them, and trace them, and keep on tracing them).

And it is worth the trip, and expense, and mild discomfort. It is formally known as Saihoji Temple, but everyone calls it "Kokedera" (moss temple).

Over the centuries, the temple fell into disrepair. In 1339 Muso Soseki, a legendary landscape gardener, was hired to fix the place up. He designed the pond and garden, the former in the shape of the Chinese character for soul or heart: 心（kokoro）. Though he did not design the moss; that came in later, again due to neglect.

In ensuing centuries, Kokedera was burned to the ground during the Onin War, and twice ruined by floods in the Edo Period. It has since been rebuilt.

A day trip could be to go first to nearby Matsuo Taisha, and then Kokedera.

Details

Address: 56 Jingatani-cho, Matsuo, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto City
Telephone: 075-391-3631
Access: From Shijo Kawaramachi and Sanjo Keihan Station take bus #63 to the Koke-dera stop - the last one. Alternatively take bus #28 from Kyoto Station to Matsuo-taisha-mae and walk about 15 minutes south west. The journey will take about 35-45 minutes and presently costs 240 yen (2009). Bus #29 goes from Matsuo-taisha-mae to Shijo Kawaramachi as well.
Application: Write your preferred date, number of people, and name and mailing address. Do NOT arrive late.
Fee: 3,000 yen/person

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アユ

The ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis) or "sweetfish" is a summer delicacy in Japan and is caught in rivers throughout the country by anglers and by comorant fishermen.



The ayu, a member of the salmon family, has a one year life span and is also found in rivers in China and Korea. Usually grilled with salt over a charcoal fire, the fish is known for its deliciously "sweet" taste and is a traditional summer experience.

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ラブホテル

Hotel Patio is a huge Love Hotel in the eastern suburbs of Nagoya. Built next to a marshy lake, the hotel dominates the surrounding area of quiet domesticity.

Drive in, of course, Hotel Patio is on the Nagoya-Toyota road through Togo. Rooms are charged from 3,500 yen for 90 minutes midweek and from 7,500 yen overnight. The 21 rooms include a rainbow bath, karaoke machine, microwave oven and a pack of 2 condoms.



Tel: 052 881 6536

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断魚渓

During the hot summer days of August we can but dream of the cooler weather to come in the autumn. One place to really enjoy the season's colors is at Dangyokei (Dangyo Gorge) in Shimane Prefecture.



Dangyo Gorge is located off Route 261 south of Imbara Station on the JR Sanko Line. The area and the limestone gorge is part of the Dangyo Gorge Kannondaki Prefectural Nature Park. The river running through the gorge is the Nigori River, a tributary of the Go River.



Paths lead down from Route 261 to the gorge and there is an onsen and campsite nearby. If you are driving from Hiroshima on the Hamada Expressway take the Oasa Interchange.



Not far north from here is the Kannon Waterfall, ideal for cooling off at this time of year. The waterfall is close to Shikaga Station on the JR Sanko Line.


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Dangyokei Shimane Dangyo Gorge

日本のイメージ

Enjoy this slideshow of images of Japan by John Lander.


Japan Images - Images by John Lander

See photographs of Kyoto, Nagoya, Hakodate, Yokohama, sumo wrestlers, cosplay, Sapporo and others.

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ガンダム

One of Japan's most popular anime franchises, 'Mobile Suit Gundam', is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year.

So what better way to commemorate the occasion than to build a 59-foot statue of one of the series' signature giant robots?



That's exactly what organizers of the Green Tokyo Gundam Project have done, building a 1:1 scale model of a Gundam which has stood in Odaiba's Shiokaze Park since early July.



The statue is rendered in almost perfect detail, with familiar markings on the shoulders and torso, and stands with its metallic gray fists clenched as it towers above its surroundings.

The statue comes equipped with a number of points which emit light while the head moves and also opens as the model spews mist. It is illuminated by lights at night as background music plays while curious fans gawk at the impressive creation.



The exhibit is free to view and is planned to last until the end of the month.

The statue is a feature of the Tokyo Green Project which is aimed at promoting a more environmentally friendly future for the city. The project also features prominently with Tokyo's bid for the 2016 Olympics, which the city is promoting as a very 'green' Olympic Games.

The Gundam is a replica of the RX-78 Gundam, which was featured in the franchise's flagship series 'Mobile Suit Gundam.' The model is the signature mobile suit of the Gundam series. Predominately white in color, with a blue and yellow midsection, the suit gained the nickname "White Devil" from other characters in the series.

One of the most famous of the "Super Robot" animes, the Gundam franchise began in April 1979.
The series has spawned several prequels, sequels and spinoff series and is hugely popular not only in Japan but other countries as well, such as the United States. While most of the spinoffs are unrelated to the main series, each installment usually features the giant machines used against the backdrop of intergalactic war.


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今週の日本

Pioneering Knick Returns to Garden

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Ponyo: can a Japanese fantasy finally animate US audiences?

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Japan prepares for war of the vehicles

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Under a cloud: Lessons and legacies of the atomic bombings

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Hiroshima: A Visual Record

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Scènes de désolation de Taïwan au Japon, après le passage du typhon

Le Monde

What happened to the Box in Japan?

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Japan Statistics

Percentage of Smokers, by Country

Japan: 29.4%
France: 31.7%
USA: 23.9%
UK: 35.7%
China: 31.8%
Russia: 48.5%

Source: Time

According to Hyogo Prefecture police, in western Japan, the death toll from a recent typhoon has risen to 19. In addition, six people are still missing. Sixteen of the dead are from Sayocho, which experienced flooding.

Source: Kyodo


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旧JR大社駅

Not far from Izumo Taisha in Izumo is the Old JR Taisha Station. The station is modeled on the design of Izumo Shrine itself and was built in 1924.



The station was converted to a free museum in 1990 and you can wander the old buildings and gaze at a rusting locomotive.




The interior wood panelling is beautifully decorated and evocative of the Taisho Period when the station was built to ferry pilgrims to Japan's second most important shrine - Izumo Taisha.


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河崎界隈

Kawasaki Kaiwai, a short 15-20 minute walk from either Uji-shi or Uji-Yamada Station along the Seta River is an area of traditional wooden houses in the historic merchant area of the town.



During the Edo Period the area along the river became prosperous, supplying the pilgrims to Ise Shrine. Goods were brought in by boat along the Seta River and warehouses established. Traditional miso and soy sauce production is still carried on and Kawasaki Kaiwai is also known for its production of Japanese lanterns.



Many of the buildings including some fine merchants' residences have now been restored and occupied by NPOs to showcase local industries and crafts. There are some atmospheric places to eat in the area or stroll on the river bank.

From Nagoya Station, there are express trains to Uji-Yamada in about 90 minutes including the deluxe Kintetsu Ise Shima Liner.

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道を聞く


The way Japanese addresses work makes finding one a potentially maddening task. The often narrow, winding streets that turn into pavements and back into streets again, the numerous cul-de-sacs you end up in, and the general sameness of the architecture can get you very lost.

Fortunately the system compensates by having a police box, or koban, often within a few hundred meters of wherever you may be, or, at least near a station for you to drop in to before you begin the hunt. Hopefully a police officer – keisatsukan, or, more colloquially omawari-san (literally, “one who does the rounds”) will be between doing the rounds, and will be able to help you.

Let’s look at a few Japanese phrases to do with asking the way.

First of all, “the way” is, in Japanese, quite simply “road,” or michi. “Ask” being “kiku,” the phase “to ask the way” becomes “michi o kiku,” literally “to ask the road.”

A Sumimasen ga, michi o kikitai desu
(“Excuse me, but I would like to ask the way.”)

B Doko made desu ka?
(“Where to?”)

A Kono Chuo ittchome, loku no yon made desu.
(“This 'Chuo 1-chome, 6-4'”)

B. Dewa, koko wo massugu itte, hashi ni tsuitara, wataranaide sugu hidari e itte kudasai.
("OK, go straight, then when you reach the bridge, don’t cross it, but go immediately left.")

A. Hai
(“OK”)

B. Ni sam byaku mehtoru aruitara, konbini ga miemasu. Soko wo migi ni magatte kudasai.
("Go 3-400 meters, and you’ll see a convenience store. Turn right there.")

A. Hai.

B. Sono hen tsuitara, mata dare ka ni kiite kudasai.
("Once you’ve made it to there, please ask someone again.")

A. Wakarimashita. Domo arigato gozaimasu.
("I got it. Thank you very much.")

B. Ie ie, ki o tsukete kudasai.
("Not at all. Take care.")


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雷鳥

The Raicho is a high speed train that runs between Osaka and Kanazawa via Kyoto and Fukui along the northern side of Lake Biwa. The Thunderbird (サンダーバード) is a faster version of the same service that continues on from Kanazawa to Toyama.



The Green Car first class section of the train has wide "panorama" type windows.



There is a women-only section in the reserved-seating cars of both the Raicho and Thunderbird trains.

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JR出雲市駅

JR Izumo-shi Station is built in the style of the nearby Izumo Taisha shrine.



The station connects to Matsue on the JR San-in Line. The station building has a small tourist information office, a convenience store and within the station complex is a supermarket, small department store and restaurants.

Izumo Station is surrounded by hotels and outside the south exit is the pleasant Ranpu-no-Yu Ekimae hot spring bath house. Just here too is the very good value Super Hotel with single rooms around 5,000 yen with breakfast.


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Izumo Shimane Izumo Taisha

Japan is having a general election on August 30. With that announcement, the political scene looks set to change a little. In the meantime, the clowns come out.

The Shinto Honshitsu (New Party Essence) is a one-man band self-styled political party in Tokyo featuring a would-be politician called Hidemitsu Sano (see poster in above photo.)

Sano has a love of over-the-top comic-strip-style vehicles, which are a feature of his political campaigning. His web presence is never without some uber-hip wheels in sight, and this pumped-up toy motorbike-with-sidecar that we caught on camera last week in Tokyo’s Roppongi district is the vanguard of his street presence.

The Shinto Honshitsu’s platform is a mish-mash of unrelated issues. The overall theme is self-proclaimed "uncommonsense," with the leading platform being the legalization of mercy killing!

The Party also stands for the nationalization of the medical profession, pay-your-own medical care for the rich, the abolition of the recently introduced jury system (“Don’t get the people involved in dreadful crime cases that even judges balk at”), eradication of "contradictions in the law" (“Why is government sponsored gambling such as horseracing and lotteries OK, but private gambling is illegal?"), and the lowering of bureaucrats' salaries.

The Shinto Honshitsu – only in Japan.

Oh, and one more reason you should vote for him is the fact that, according to the front page of his website, he lost 40kg (88lb) in half a year – without even giving up the booze! His public service extends to having written a book about it: Slim While Drinking Your Favorite Alcohol, able to be ordered through the Shinto Honshitsu website.

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Opposition Woos Japan’s Voters With Costly Vows

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China moves to internationalise its currency

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Party offers a third way: happiness

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Japan sees rise in unemployment

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Japan and Boston Red Sox erstwhile ace Daisuke Matsuzaka was moved to the 60-day disabled list on August 2nd.

Matsuzaka is 1-5 with an 8.23 ERA in eight starts this season. This followed his MVP performance in March in the World Baseball Classic.

Source: Kyodo

The number of unemployed persons in June 2009 was 3.48 million. That was an increase of 830,000, or 31.3%, from the previous year.

The unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, was 5.4%.

Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications


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長崎, 原子爆弾



Tomorrow is the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki . The city on the west coast of Kyushu was devastated by the second atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan, three days after the first bomb attack on Hiroshima.

Approximately 70,000 people were killed as a result of the bombing and a further 70,000 later died of subsequent radioactivity-related illnesses.

The attack in 1945 from the US B-29 bomber Bockscar occurred at 11.02am with the "Fat Man" bomb exploding at a height of around 500 meters above the historic port city. Six days later Japan surrendered and the Pacific War was over.

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The weather in Tokyo is at it's hottest and most unbearable in August. Temperatures are over 30 degrees centigrade both day and night. The "heat island" effect of so much concrete and with air conditioners and cars blowing out hot air means sunset brings little respite from the heat.

Tokyo has taken steps to reduce the "heat island" phenomenon by encouraging new buildings to have roof gardens and by turfing over playing grounds in public schools, but overall the effect has been minimal - it just keeps getting hotter and hotter every year - as the government refuses to recognise the root causes of the problem and reduce the number of automobiles and high rise buildings.

It has been estimated that the last century has seen a 3 degree rise in temperature in Japan's capital. The number of "tropical days" where the mercury rises to over 30 degrees Centigrade has increased to 35 days a year, compared to just 14 days in 1975.

See the latest forecast for the weather in Tokyo including temperatures, rainfall, wind speed, visibility, pollution, sunrise, sunset and relative humidity.




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Few people depend on taking a bus to work in the major Japanese cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. At best, a local bus will take you from your suburb to the nearest subway or rail station from where you can complete your commute. In general, Japanese city buses are cheap, crowded and slow.



In smaller cities such as Kyoto, which has only 2 subway lines, buses are essential for getting around town, if you don't have your own transport, whether that is a car or bicycle.

Car-mad Japan seems to discourage the urban bus and there is no bus culture that you would encounter in a city like London, for example. Night buses, too, are something of a rarity as are double-decker buses for anything other than sightseeing tours of Tokyo.

Japan does have an excellent system of inter-city highway buses however, with even the smallest town having a daily or weekly connection to the capital, Tokyo.


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夏ばて

Goya gourd. Photo by Dalgial

Summer in Japan is characterized by festivals, fireworks displays, and the wearing of the traditional yukata. However, on the flip side, being as hot and humid as it is, summer is also known as a season of fatigue.

If you’re a regular at a gym in Japan you will notice how it seems to empty out a little in July and August. The atmosphere inside the typical Japanese office is slightly oppressed in summer, with people taking more random days off work, and harried faces more the norm than in the cooler months. Look out from your balcony over the neighborhood on an early summer morning, and notice how bereft of the usual joggers the paths are.

A common word in Japanese for this state of summer lethary is natsubate (nah-tsu-bah-the), the natsu meaning summer, and the bate being a modified form of the verb hateru, meaning to be exhausted.

To make a verb of it: natsubate suru.

A commonly believed antidote to natsubate is the eating of the bitter gourd known as the goya (momordica charantia).

Natsubate o shitara goya o tabeyo!
If you’re feeling overcome by the summer heat, eat goya!


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