Summertime…

I apologize in advance for the photos – I took quick photos on my phone of a few things I wanted to share.  The photos are crooked and have strange cropping…

 

Summertime in Japan – hot, humid, buggy…

Not to worry though, Mint Pocky will get you through. That’s right, special edition Pocky for the summer. Mint is supposed to be cooling so I guess it works. It’s really tasty too.  

Mint Pocky!

 

It’s still rainy season which means it’s humid.  In an effort to save electricity, opening windows and doors while sipping a cool beverage works pretty well in place of running the air conditioning.  There is the issue of mosquitos, but never fear, Japan’s got that covered too…mosquito coils to the rescue!  Kincho is the original mosquito coil company .

Mosquito Coils

Summer also means time to eat うなぎ!  There is one day during the summer, said to be the hottest day of the year, that you are supposed to eat broiled eel.  It’s pretty tasty.  This year it falls on July 29th.  How do I know this, you ask.  Well, there is a huge banner hanging up announcing the date.  It’s big deal here.  Last year there were people lined up at all of the stalls in the market waiting for their chance to purchase some tasty うなぎ.

うなぎ Day is Coming!

うなぎ Day is Coming!

 

I read a great post on eel the other day.  Everyone should take a quick look at it – Unagi, The Japanese Eel: A Long Story.

In continuing with the rambling nature of this post, I’ve picked up a few books in the past year.  I love books.  Besides a few books for language study I’ve purchased some guides.  One is of plants and animals in different areas of Japan (town, countryside, etc.).  While walking in the evenings I often see geckos (and spiders, way to many spiders…).  They are super fast so getting a clean photo of one might take a bit of work.  In the meantime, enjoy the drawing from the book.

Japanese Gecko Drawing

The Guide Book

The second book is based on the seasons.  In one of the summer sections there was a passage on うなぎ.

Guide to the Seasons

Eel!

 

Anyway, enough rambling…maybe my brain has melted due to the heat and humidity?  I’ll leave you with a picture of a postcard that came with the copy of Anne of Green Gables I picked up.