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“Kokkuri-san (コックリさん)” is a special type of Japanese fortune telling similar to what people in the West call “table-rapping.” It involves necromancy or summoning the spirits of the dead to answer questions.  In this case players summon an animal ghost (mainly fox) and ask it questions.  The ghost is supposed to answer questions by moving a coin across a sheet of paper that has numbers and alphabets on it.  “Gugure! Kokkuri-san ( 繰繰れ！コックリさん )” is a title of an anime.  In this story a little girl plays Kokkuri-san and ends up being possessed by ghosts.  It is very cute and funny, one of my favorites.

You can learn Japanese from me while we watch an anime like this one!

One type of firework that has been used in Japan since the Edo period is called “senkō sparkler”; probably the smallest sparkler in Japan.  In the Tokyo area, a senkō sparkler is made out of twisted Japanese paper (washi) with a small amount of gunpowder wrapped inside at one end.  Because it is made out of paper, a senkō sparkler is very fragile.  You have to stay very still after you light it, otherwise, the firework will break off from the paper and die.  Unlike the common image of fireworks, the senkō sparkler is tiny and fragile.  Yet many Japanese people love senkō sparklers precisely because of this uniqueness.

You can watch a video of senkō sparkler here.

Illustration from http://estar.jp/.pc/_ilst_view?w=22677509

In Japan we have snow cones just like the ones in the U.S; shaved ice and syrup .  We also have snow cones with ice cream and fruit on top, and we even have snow cones with sweet red beans and sticky rice cake on top called ” Ujikintoki (宇治金時)” .   Ujikintoki is usually a Matcha green tea ( 抹茶 ) flavored snow cone, often served with Matcha or vanilla ice cream.

“Ramune” is a carbonated soft drink that has been very popular for many decades in Japan.  It is well known for its unique bottle (invented in England in 1872) that seals itself using pressure from the carbon dioxide in the drink.  A glass marble is placed inside the bottle, so when the bottle is sealed, the marble is on the top, and you can open the bottle by pressing the marble down.  As you can see, the appearance of the bottle is beautiful and cool-looking especially for summer.

In the Japanese language, “Hyaku monogatari” literally means 100 stories. But these are not just any type of stories, they are scary ghost or demon stories.  Hyaku monogatari is a style of storytelling or story-sharing for a group of people.  You start with 100 candles lit, and blow one candle out each time someone finishes telling a story.  A ghost or demon is supposed to appear by the time all the candles are blown out.  I’ve never tried it myself; and I don’t know anyone who has.  Would you? 😉

The tradition of sharing scary ghost/demon stories in summer came about because people feel a chill when they are scared, so on hot humid summer nights we try to cool down by talking and listening scary ghost stories.  Therefore, hyaku monogatari is known as a summer activity.

Painting is from 百鬼夜行!「Ao」のイラスト

“Obon” is a Japanese observance honoring ancestors and friends that have passed away.  Obon is usually held August 13^th through 16^th, but some areas in Japan may hold it earlier.   We believe the spirits of the dead will visit us during obon and offer prayers for their peace.  Some people display eggplants and cucumbers, and they are called shōryō-uma (精霊馬).   The cucumber horse is to carry the spirits on their way to come here quickly and the eggplant cow is to carry them back slowly and leisurely.  We often burn small amount of hemp stalk, called mukae-bi (迎え火), on a tray on the 13^th to welcome spirits to our homes.  There are different obon ceremonies to send the spirits off on the 16^th depending on the area.  In Kyoto, they hold a ceremony called Daimonji yaki (大文字焼き) where they burn a big fire that is shaped like this: “大” on a mountainside.  In other places people celebrate tōrō nagashi (灯篭流し) which is a ceremony where they release floating lanterns into a river or ocean to bid the spirits good-by, and okuri-bi (送り火), is another ceremony of burning hemp stalk on a tray.

“Umi no ie” [literally “House of the Sea”] is a Japanese public bathhouse with a restaurant on the beach.  You can purchase food & drinks, take a shower, and even safely store your luggage here while you go swimming.  It costs about $5 ~ $15 to take a shower and check your bags.  An umi no ie is usually a temporary bathhouse only open in the summer; built right before the summer break starts and taken down once the season ends.

As you can see in the photo, Japanese people take off their shoes to enter an umi no ie.

The rainy season in Japan lasts about 4~6 weeks, and normally ends in June in Okinawa (South of Japan) and around July 20^th in Tokyo.  As soon as the rainy season ends it truly feels like summer; hot & humid.  All the beaches get really popular and remain crowded until the middle of August.