Summer fireworks

Summer has well and truly hit here after a rainy season that ran ten days late. The initial excitement of seeing a blue sky once again didn't last long as the memory of just how hot a Japanese summer can be was recalled. I have tried to boycott summer as much as I can by hiding out in my two airconditioned rooms.

But there are some wonderful events here in summer to bring me out of hiding.

One is the many firework festivals. Last weekend I went with a group of friends to the fireworks or "hanabi" in Seki. We spread out our picnic blanket and dined under a sky of everychanging colours. We were surrounded by people wearing Yukata (summer cotton kimonos) and above us was a line of street stalls offering all sorts of delights including kakigori (shaved ice), toffee apples, okonomiyaki (a Japanese savory pizza-meets-pancake) and iceblocks in the shape of Japanese manga characters.