Surviving the Summer

Posted on April 14, 2007 by Angie Davis

This year will be my official fourth summer in Japan. The first summer I experienced in Japan was whilst on a three week vacation, and I spent it sweating continuously and totally dehydrating cycling around temples in Kyoto, climbing endless stairs at Himeji Castle, shopping in Tokyo, and only found a little bit of relief once retreating to the mountains in Nagano. The second summer was even worse, it was spent in Ota city GunmaOne of Japan's 47 prefectures. It forms the Northwest corner of the Kanto area., my first since coming to live in Japan, and I wasted away endless hours in the furnace-like surroundings of the Junior High School I was working for at the time. Weekends were spent either gathering will all my mates at the rock-river jump an hour drive away, or just staying inside with the air-conditioner on, no doubt contributing to the already worrisome problem of global warming.

Last year I vowed I would not spend another summer landlocked and melting away in the Japan heat. So I moved to the coastal village of Ichinomiya in ChibaOne of Japan's 47 prefectures. Located just East of Tokyo and home to such well known sites as Narita International Airport and Tokyo Disney Land. prefecture. When the summer came, I could relieve myself from the heat and humidity by surfing at least once a day, twice or three times on weekends and days off. The sea breeze in itself at night was enough to take the edge off the heat, and I can boast that I only used my air-conditioner about 5 times last summer, the rest of the time a small floor fan was sufficient.

In the middle of August, the Surf-Skaters surf, skate and music festival was held at my local beach, brining to our little village a collection of talented Japanese surfers, skate boarders and reggae and hip hop musicians, and making it a great distraction from the heat. It was a fantastic day, plenty of atmosphere and it was enjoyed by people of all ages and nationalities. This summer the event will indeed come to Ichinomiya again, and I urge you to make the trip down to check it out.