With the vanishing exception of high altitudes in the mountains, summer in Japan is awful by most measures. Daytime temperatures regularly exceed 30 degrees Celsius, often hovering around 36 or 38 on most days. But it’s the high humidity that tips a Japanese summer over into a seemingly endless sweltering hell. 

Thankfully, summer in Japan is not entirely irredeemable. This is not a guide to surviving summer, but it is a reminder that despite the hellish heat, there are small pleasures to be had, things enjoyable precisely because it is sweltering outside. 

Summertime snacks 

In my opinion, the only remedy for summer heat is kakigori. Not the cups of crushed ice drenched in syrups that could almost be radioactive in their colouring, like the violent, almost fluorescent green of melon, or the curious ‘Blue Hawaii’ (although some might consider this festival staple the true taste of summer), but the ‘designer’ kakigori one sees in specialty shops — a mountain of fluffy ice shavings layered through with real fruit, velvety creams and syrups, or condensed milk. True kakigori fans will eat shaved ice year-round, but it is at its best as an icy respite from the heat. 

No less refreshing are sweet, cold slices of watermelon. They’re even better preceded by a game of suika-wari, or watermelon-splitting. Here is the gist: Blindfold your friend, give them a stick, spin them around, and direct them to find and break a watermelon with it. Cue hilarity. Pair the juicy fruit with fragrant sweetcorn, steamed, boiled, or roasted; a tiny sprinkle of salt is optional. Anything tastes better when it’s in season. 

One cannot live off sweet snacks alone, so a bowl of chilled somen noodles might do the trick when it’s difficult to contemplate eating anything at all. Many will swear by the delights of nagashi somen, where you try to grab clumps of noodles with your chopsticks from a bamboo chute filled with running water. It’s all fun and games unless the restaurant forgets to test their water source and gives everyone food poisoning. Stick to doing it with people you know and trust, I guess? 

Summertime sips

By rights, cold mugicha (barley tea) and cold water should be equally thirst-quenching on a hot day. And yet where water barely slakes the thirst, a draught of nutty barley tea somehow manages to feel like an ocean wave crashing through my body — I can feel my internal thermostat instantly dropping. Maybe it’s a placebo effect, maybe it’s the potassium, vitamins, and antioxidants it supposedly contains. 

Ramune might be preferable for those with a sweet tooth. The word ‘ramune’ derives from ‘lemonade’ but bears as much resemblance to the latter as Coca-Cola does to Pepsi. This carbonated lemonade was introduced to Japan by a Scottish pharmacist in 1884, and while the drink itself was popular, much of its novelty derived from its distinctive Codd-neck bottle (or marble bottle). Getting to the ramune involves pressing on the marble to release the pressurised gas — fun for some of us and a real faff for the rest when the liquid inevitably fizzes over and gets our hands all sticky. 

The sounds of summer

My sister once called me when it was the height of summer in Kyoto and I was living in a house near Mt. Hiei. Around a minute into the call, she asked why it sounded like an anime where I was. That was the sound of summer, right there — the screech of cicadas, which she understood as the background to the quintessential summer vacation episode in a high school anime. Personally, this is not a sound I enjoy, but your mileage may vary. Some people find that summer is incomplete without these insects and their mating calls.  

In summer, you may hear tinkling, ringing sounds drifting in with the slightest breeze. This is the far more pleasant and melodious sound of wind chimes. Japanese wind bells are called fūrin; these are small and bowl-shaped, with a piece of paper hanging from each one. The logic is that the sound imparts a feeling of coolness as it draws our attention to the wind that must be blowing through. Most people love them; not everyone does, as evidenced by some anonymous complaints to management about a neighbour’s wind chimes in my apartment building. One supposes that these, too, are quintessentially Japanese.  

Summer sights and scenes 

One of the most romantic things you can do on a muggy summer’s evening is to travel somewhere deep into the countryside, and stand in a pitch-dark field far away from city lights. In the right areas, you are rewarded with the sight of fireflies, flickering green-gold trails of light arcing through the darkness. There are firefly-themed events in the city, too, where local municipalities might release fireflies into an area. But there’s nothing quite like going out into the mountains with friends or lovers to see them. 

Festivals are year-round affairs in Japan — any excuse to dance and make merry, after all — but summer festivals are particularly lively affairs. Many of them center around the Bon Odori, a folk dance that welcomes the spirits of the dead during Obon. The dance itself varies by region, as do the festivals, making it an especially fun way to experience different parts of Japan. 

Besides the Obon festivals, there are major summer events like Kyoto’s Gion Festival (which essentially runs for a month, with multiple parades of elaborate festival floats) and Osaka’s Tenjin Matsuri, a dazzling two-day festival that pulls out all the stops. Lion dances, floats, portable shrines, umbrella dancers, drummers, bonfires, plays performed on floating stages — if there was ever a reason to be in Osaka for the end of July, this festival is it.

Flower appreciation isn’t just for cherry blossom season. Summer heat brings these flowers: sunflowers, morning glory, lotus. The first weekend of July in Iriya, Tokyo, typically sees an annual morning glory festival celebrating these indigo-purple blooms, but you might also see them growing wild along cliffs and building walls. It is the rare person who can fail to be moved by a pond full of pink lotuses or a field of bright yellow sunflowers — sights worth braving the sweltering heat for. While not strictly speaking a flower, the lantern-shaped hōzuki is an underrated summer plant. It is a symbol of good fortune, and apparently, also wards one against misfortune due to the summer heat.  

Last but not least are the fireworks displays that light up the skies all summer long. The first ever fireworks festival in Japan was held in 1733 to comfort the spirits of the deceased, those who had died in famines or plagues. Since then, fireworks displays have become a regular summer event. It’s not a great way to cool down (you’re essentially sitting outside on a muggy evening) but the pyrotechnics might distract you from the heat. Might. 

Summer apparel and accessories 

How does one dress for summer? Ideally, in as few clothes as one can possibly get away with. But if one is attending a summer festival of any kind, wearing a yukata (summer kimono) is practically de rigueur. These are made of cotton, worn without all the underlayers that accompany regular kimono. Ideally it is paired with an elegant uchiwa or sensu to cool yourself down, and perhaps a tenugui with fun, summer-themed prints to wipe away all the sweat from being outdoors. But by far the most sensible accessory for this season is the sun-brella. To channel Japanese summer in style, consider shading yourself with the elegant wagasa, which has a finely made bamboo scaffolding and sturdy oil paper.