💦 Hot days in Japan 暑い日

Late July -７月

So what do you do when the midday temperature is hitting 35°c and going out the front door is like going into a huge sauna ? Go out in the midday sun like a mad Englishman and end up in Yokohama hospital intensive care unit? No thanks.

Bodily needs come first I would say. Nr.1 is drink. Beer is refreshing, but leaves you in an alcoholic torpor afterwards......😴

では、真昼の気温が 35°C に達し、玄関から外に出ると巨大なサウナに入るような気分になったらどうしますか? 気が狂ったイギリス人のように真昼の太陽の下に出て、横浜の病院の集中治療室に行き着くでしょうか? いや、結構です。

身体的な欲求が最優先だと思います。一番は飲み物です。ビールは爽快ですが、その後はアルコールの無気力状態に陥ります......😴

Water. That's what you need. And if your supply runs low there is always a vending machine at hand somewhere. I'm told there is one at the top of Mt. Fuji, but I'm not going up there to find out.

水。それが必要なのです。そして、水が足りなくなったら、どこかに自動販売機が必ずあります。富士山の頂上に1台あると聞いていますが、確かめるためにそこまで行くつもりはありません。

Just being near water can be refreshing. This week I was in a botanical garden in Ofuna, and the lotus plants were at their best.....

そして、水辺にいるだけでもリフレッシュできます。今週は大船の植物園に行ったのですが、蓮が最高に咲いていました.....

growing in water, needless to say.....

Mind you, it's wise to leave your pet tiger at home......grrrrrrrrrr!!!!

ペットのトラは家に置いていくのが賢明ですね.....🐅

Actually, I never would have thought a botanical garden was a good place to go in this heat. When I asked for an entrance ticket the attendant asked me my age. Indeed, she had a little table in her hand with years of birth listed beside ticket prices. In the event I got a huge reduction for my years. So it's not only the students who get the perks. Whilst this merry transaction was going on I realized that I was being bathed in a stream of cold air: yes - let's make you comfortable whilst you buy a ticket......

冷たい空気の流れに浸かっていました。はい、チケットを買う間、快適に過ごしましょう！......🆒

神奈川県立フラワーセンター大船植物園

I told her that the first thing I needed was the café. OK......there I ordered a simple cheap curry.....delicious! (free water included).

まずカフェで美味しいカレーを食べました 😋

Of course if you need your water in a different state you can order a Kakigori - that shaved ice which you can flavour with a dash of lemon...or strawberry....or...whatever is on offer. I was offered a blue Hawaii flavour, but I thought better of it.....

かき氷 mmmmmmmmm.........😉

Wandering languorously through these extensive gardens I was almost deafened by the buzz of cicadas. A wisteria terrace (post flowering stage) offered some shade.....

藤の木陰

There are other ways to keep cool. Psychologically. I walked through this trellis hung with wind chimes.....and saw and heard the wind...

Another measure to survive the heat is a very practical one. Dress accordingly. I pity the office workers in their shirts and ties and black shoes. Here two girls are dressed in the light cotton Yukata (lit. bath robe). They are walking towards the Hachimangu shrine in nearby Kamakura......

暑さを乗り切るもう一つの方法は、とても実用的なものです。それに応じた服装をすることです。シャツとネクタイ、黒い靴を履いたサラリーマンには同情します。この写真では、2 人の女の子が薄手の綿の浴衣 (文字通りバスローブ) を着ています。彼女たちは鎌倉近郊の鶴岡八幡宮に向かって歩いています......

I was to see many Yukata that day, worn by men and women alike. It was Hanabi (fireworks) in Kamakura. More anon.

But going back for a moment to where I was staying - Ofuna - a big "not recommended in the heat" flags up in my brain. Don't exert yourself. And what was I doing? I was climbing up the steps to the Ofuna Kannon.......💦

大船観音寺

The statue was begun in 1927, but war got in the way, and it was only finished in1954.

( but what exactly is it? I can hear you asking :

👉 Answer: It is a representation of the Asian bodhisattva,

a being who forgoes their nirvana

to stay on earth to help mere mortals like you and me )

It is a part of the Soto Zen Buddhist Bukkaisan Temple on the same site. In addition, in 1970 a cenotaph was erected by the Atomic Bomb Victims Association, and a nearby lantern carries a flame brought from the ruins of Hiroshima. Every autumn, a memorial service is held here for the dead. In the next picture you will see a paper crane is chiselled into the monument. This harks back to a story: Sadako Sasaki, a 12 year old girl who died of leukemia as a result of radiation exposure, was said to have folded 1000 paper cranes to sustain her will to live. The crane has subsequently become a symbol of peace and hope.

放射線被曝による白血病で亡くなった12歳の少女、佐々木禎子さんは、生きる意志を貫くために千羽鶴を折ったと言われています。その後、その鶴は平和と希望の象徴となりました。

Insect repellent. There you are, I knew there was something I had not mentioned yet. I got a few mosquito bites when walking through the woods behind the statue....

Back on Terra Firma, as you would say, I looked up to where I had walked.......you get an idea of scale here....

You might like to look at this.......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cfuna_Kannon

When I first bought a sun umbrella I felt a bit silly. After all, isn't it something that gentle ladies twirl around whilst promenading and chatting to their friends? Yes, but......It was the summer hikes in the Rheingau that did it. My head gets all hot and sweaty under a hat, but with a sun umbrella the wind can caress your face and hair. Wonderful. So I'm damn glad I brought one on this trip. Swiss made, I have to say, but the sun is the sun after all......."Peace brother...."

初めて日傘を買ったときは、ちょっとバカバカしい気がした。今は違う

Fans are of course a big deal in the heat. So much so that an art gallery in Tokyo is offering a glimpse of about 100 fan designs from the last century. They are amazing.....うちわ

This exibition was at the Ota Memorial Museum - a cool haven tucked behind the busy streets of Harajuku...........http://www.ukiyoe-ota-muse.jp/eng/

Air conditioned of course, with nice gleaming toilets and a tasteful shop downstairs (I trust you have seen Wim Wenders film "Perfect Days" by now) . So civilized. Many of the designs on the fans feature cats. This is partly because there was a time when you were not allowed to depict the faces of real personalities in your drawings. A bit like not posting photos of other people on Instagram.

Well, I have a real cat and a real electric fan on my desk......and water of course....

ええと、私の机の上には本物の猫と本物の扇風機があります......そしてもちろん水もあります....

....and even a 'cello to play......(as long as no one is in the house)

....そしてチェロを演奏することもできます...🎵...（家の中に誰もいない限り - 壁はかなり薄いです！）

But let's get to the ultimate solution to the heat. Go out in the dark. And this is where the Kamakura Fireworks display is a heaven-sent event. One hour of professional fireworks,🎆 all set off from a ship off the coast. To say that this is a popular event would be a big understatement. Getting off the train at Kamakura (a town south of Tokyo), I was swept along in a throng of excited (mostly young) people all heading the same way. To the beach. Note the guy wearing his Yukata....

鎌倉花火大会🎆

Frantic traffic control police waving red illuminated light batons (a bit like Star Wars) tried to direct the crowds. But there was no ill-temper or loud-mouthed rowdies with alcohol. There was a happy, eager atmosphere. I realised with a pang that, yes, that is one of the things I love about this country.

When I finally got to the promenade there was no hope of getting on the beach. All the wise people of Kamakura were already sitting there, fully equipped with groundsheets and a picnic.....

幸せで期待に満ちた雰囲気がありました........

Or had already secured a vantage point like this couple.....

But this didn't prevent me from squeezing in at the railing and taking these shots.....

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The crowds stretched as far as the eye could see along the beach.....food stalls are lit up.....

And at the end? take a paddle with your friends in the edge of the Pacific ocean....

I will not go into the details about how I managed to get on a train home, except to say that Kamakura train station 🚉 resembled an international airport when all the flights have been cancelled. At one point I really thought that I would have to spend the night under a tree at the local temple ⛩️

Well, that's all for now. See you next week. And thank you for all the nice comments I get about this blog ☺️ I know some of you just look at the pictures. That's fine with me. It's actually quite a lot of work to pull it together each week, and in case you are wondering - no, I often don't do the translations myself. It would just take too long.

I will soon be on the plane home. Soon I will have to unpack the German language compartment in my brain and push the activate button. Wish me luck..............😅

さて、今のところはこれで終わりです。また来週。このブログについていただいた素敵なコメントに感謝します。写真だけ見る方もいらっしゃると思います。それでも構いません。毎週まとめるのは実はかなり大変です。もし疑問に思われるなら、いいえ、私は自分で翻訳することはあまりありません。時間がかかりすぎるからです。もうすぐ飛行機に乗って帰ります。もうすぐ頭の中のドイツ語の箱を開けて起動ボタンを押さなければなりません。幸運を祈ってください.............😄

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

William Shakespeare

Last evening with my host family +plus.....Photo: Misako-san.

終わり💦

nigelwruddock@gmail.com