Hey guys!
So today's video is going to be a continuation of my Travel Tips series about traveling in
Japan.
Even though I don't live in Japan any more, I feel like living there for years I got to
experience some really incredible things, and I wanna helps other people experience
Japan in the best way that they can.
So this part of the Travel Tips series is going to be seasonal, and I'm going to start
with my top five summer activities in Japan, or at least that I experienced.
And of course this is going to be my personal opinion, but I just hope that it'll give you
some ideas of what you could do in Japan in each season.
I'm gonna start with summer because I feel like this is about six months from peak summer
time in Japan, so hopefully that'll give you enough time to watch this video and then maybe
like look things up and organise travel plans and things like that.
If there are any relevant videos that I've made about the different activities that I'm
going to mention, I will either link them up here in a little annotation, or I will
link them in the description below, 'cause I think there's gonna be like too many source
videos, so I'll probably list some in the description below as well.
Okay, let's get into it!
My number one summer activity in Japan will come as a surprise to absolutely no one who
knows me at all, and that is beaches.
Japan has gorgeous ocean all up and down the country, and in pretty much and prefecture
you go to that isn't completely landlocked, you'll find some amazing beaches.
Just Google "best beaches in X prefecture" and you'll find something incredible.
Now beaches seems pretty simple and self-explanatory, but there are a couple of things that you
should be aware of, like differences that I noticed from New Zealand and England beaches
to Japanese beaches.
The first is opening dates and opening hours.
Now, I don't know how this works in other countries, in New Zealand and England, beaches
are just like...open.
'cause they're beaches.
In Japan that's not always the case, a lot of beaches will have opening dates and they'll
only be open during summer.
Um, so this is kind of frustrating, or at least it was to me, because Japanese spring
weather is really hot, and it would have been great to go swimming, but most beaches are
just closed during spring and only open like July-ish.
So definitely check the opening dates of any beach that you're planning to go to, if it's
not full on summer, it might not be open.
And the other thing is that even during the open dates, a lot of beaches have opening
hours.
So often it's from like 10AM to like 8PM or something like that, so just be aware of that,
because like I said, I'm not quite sure how it is in other countries, but in New Zealand
like...I was very very surprised, let's put it like that.
When I went to try and go for an evening swim and the beach was locked up, I was like "oh...that's
weird".
Um, so definitely Google the hours for any beach that you're planning on going to.
Uh, the next thing that is very different, or at least for me, is tattoos.
Some beaches will ask you to leave if you have very visible tattoos.
Now, I have five tattoos, but they're all like...very small, and so I was always fine,
I've never even been looked at a beach for having tattoos, because most people don't
notice them.
However, if you have a lot of large, visible tattoos, that are visible in a bathing suit
then you might wanna try and check out the culture of the specific beach that you're
thinking of going to.
I say that, but it's really hard because some beaches are totally chill about it, and some
aren't and it's very difficult to know which is which.
I think you'll be fine at most touristy beaches, because they're used to foreigners with lots
of tattoos, but just like be aware that this might happen, I guess is the best thing I
can say.
The other thing is that beaches get super super crowded, as you would expect in a highly
populated country.
So the most popular beaches might be not your best option if you're not into crowds.
Um, I had a lot of luck not going to like Shirahama or like the super famous beaches
but going to some of the smaller beaches, um, and I really liked that because I prefer
a less perfect beach with less people, if that makes sense.
So if you're not super into crowds, try that.
If you don't mind crowds at all then go to the most popular beaches 'cause they do tend
to be the most beautiful.
Um...apart from that there's not terribly much else to say...oh!
Two more things: Jellyfish and weather.
So a lot of beaches in Japan have like a month or a couple of weeks where jellyfish will
be brought in by the tides, so most beaches will say on their website when that is.
Especially Okinawa, there's like a couple of weeks where the whole sea is just infested
with jellyfish.
So make sure that you check that out.
And the other thing is that during summer in Japan often you get typhoons, and sometimes
that just seems like rain and it seems like it would be really nice to go swimming in...don't.
It can be super super dangerous to go swimming in a typhoon, even if it seems like it's not
windy, it's just rainy.
So just like avoid that, it's not worth it.
Not worth the risk.
Um, apart from that...I guess like my recommendation for beaches has to be Okinawa, like the snorkeling
and the warm sea in Okinawa is just like the best, but if you're not looking to go that
far afield there are just gorgeous beaches everywhere, as I say, and I don't think I'll
ever be as useful as Google, so just Google the best beach in whichever prefecture you're
in and go, you will not regret it.
It's such...just amazing, especially 'cause it's so hot in Japanese summer.
Okay, so that's number one.
My second recommendation is fireworks festivals.
Summer is the season of fireworks in Japan and there are just fireworks festivals, there
were hundreds even just the Nara Prefecture where I lived.
Um, and they're all incredible, I think.
It's just a really amazing experience.
My two absolute favourites that I went to were the PL Art of Fireworks display and also
the Tenjin Matsuri in Osaka, and they're just really really good.
Japan does fireworks really really well.
Um, so some advice for going to fireworks festivals: You want to arrive early if you
want a good spot, um, as I mentioned with the beaches, things get really really crowded
because Japan is just a heavily populated country, so try to arrive early if you want
to get a really good viewing spot.
If you're not too bothered by that then arriving late is fine.
I used to just arrive late and just stand wherever, because standing outside for hours
and hours in the super humid weather was not very fun for me.
Um, however, if you do want a good spot, I would recommend taking a picnic blanket or
rug, loads of people do this, like just arrive at midday with lunch and drinks and a picnic
blanket and like a little cooler and just sit there the whole day and wait for the fireworks.
It seems like a lot of people make a day trip out of it, which is really cool.
You can even take like folding chairs and things, you won't look weird at all, like
80% of people I would say have a whole set-up going.
So definitely do that if you're into like making a day of things, um, yeah I think that's
a really great idea.
Also make sure that you have a lot of cooling stuff with you.
So you'll want sunscreen, possibly like a cooling spray, a fan, cold drinks...just make
sure you're staying hydrated, because summer in Japan is super hot and humid as I've mentioned
many times before, but especially for fireworks festivals, because a lot of people do arrive
so early, a lot of people end up getting heat exhaustion or even heat stroke from waiting
out in the sun for a long time, so just make sure that you're really prepared for that.
I don't think there's terribly much other advice I can give, just like go and enjoy
the fireworks, 'cause maybe...well, I bet fireworks are really great in a lot of countries,
but coming from New Zealand where we have like one fireworks display a year and it's
no that great, this was like mind blowing to me.
My third recommendation is a food recommendation.
There's a ton of great food in Japan in summer, especially fresh fruits like watermelon are
really really popular, but my personal recommendation is nagashi soumen.
Nagashi soumen is...it means flowing noodles, and basically it's cooked soumen noodles that
are put into a river of cold flowing water, and then you scoop them up with chopsticks
and dip them into cold soy-based broth and eat them.
And it's a really fun way to eat food, and you can also a lot of people put like fruits
and vegetables down the flowing water as well.
It's just like...it's like an eating event, I guess.
So a lot of Japanese families will do this during summer at their homes, so you can either
get yourself an invite to that like I managed to and was so so grateful for 'cause it was
a really incredible cultural experience.
Um, or if you are just visiting Japan and you can't go to someone's house, there are
a bunch of restaurants that open up during summer or serve nagashi soumen exclusively
during summer.
Especially in Kyoto in like the centre of Kyoto by the river, there are like a ton of
nagashi soumen restaurants where you can eat flowing noodles while watching the flowing
water of the river and it's really amazing.
So yeah, it's just like...I don't know, it's just like such a fun mixture between like
culture and food and like socialising.
I don't know, it's just a really great experience, highly recommend it, like a very...um, foreign
thing to me, something that I'd never ever done before and I thought that was really
fun.
My fourth recommendation is going to apply to people who are exchange students in Japan
or people who are teaching, and that is school festivals.
So my two absolute favourite school festivals both happen during summer, and that is the
Sports Festival, which happens exclusively in summer in pretty much every school that
I know of, and then Bunkasai or Cultural Festival, which it's kind of a toss-up whether that
happens in summer or in November, around Culture Day, it just depends on the school.
So Sports Day is exactly what it sounds like, everyone just like plays sports.
My school also had a Dodgeball Festival, I'm not quite sure if that's like a normal thing,
but that happened in summer too, and that was another of my favourites.
It's just like all the kids get to play in teams and they get to play all sorts of different
games, and it's just great fun to watch, it's great fun to participate in, if they have
a teachers' relay or like a teachers' tug of war, you can join in, or if you're an exchange
student you'll be joining in with all the games, so good luck to you!
Uh, it's just a really really great way to experience your school's culture and get to
know your students or your, um, fellow peers a bit better if you're an exchange student.
I just absolutely loved it.
And then Cultural Festival is probably my absolute favourite.
There will be a whole lot of food stands made up by the different classes where you can
go and buy food, and all of the proceeds will go back into the school, or like to that specific
class.
There will be different games and all the different classes will put on presentations.
You might get some musical presentations in the gym, or if you have like a presentation
hall then you'll get that.
Um, often Bunkasai is over two days, I actually have a whole video about it, so I'll link
that up here somewhere.
Often Bunkasai is over two days, so the first day you'll get like the formal Bunkasai which
is often held outside the school in like a hall, and then the second day is like the
"fun" Bunkasai.
Um, if you are a teacher or if you are a student involved in any clubs, you will be expected
to do your like club activity, whatever that is, for Bunkasai.
We did tongue twisters one year in English, and then I did like New Zealand foods the
next year.
So yeah, that was really fun.
But yeah, schools have some great great festivals, your school might have different festivals
from mine, so just like be ready for a kind of interesting schedule for school during
summer.
My fifth and final recommendation is very specific.
I've tried to keep things quite broad up until this point, because as I mentioned at the
start, I had difficulty paring down to a top five, so I kind of cheated and had a lot of
things in very broad categories.
However, this one is one that I couldn't miss out even though it's an oddly specific thing,
and that is the Ofusa Kannon wind chime festival.
Now this was one of the last things I did before I left Japan, and I didn't find it
until my last year in Japan which was really disappointing, because I would have gone every
year if I could have.
It was one of the most magical experiences i've ever had in my life, and it was just
incredible.
So if you haven't seen my video, which I'll link up here somewhere, the Ofusa Kannon Shrine
in Nara Prefecture is like pretty close to the centre of Nara, you can just get a train
a little while out of Nara and then walk for a bit and you'll find it, and during summer
for a whole month, they have a wind chime festival where they hang up just so many wind
chimes, and the sound is amazing.
Like, I thought it would be really loud and quite overwhelming and I was a bit nervous
about it 'cause I'm not super good with loud noises, but it wasn't loud at all it was just...magic.
I don't know how else to describe it, it was magic.
So if you happen to be around the Kansai area in summer, check out this festival, it was...I
don't know if I can say the best festival that I went to in Japan, 'cause I feel like
I went to so many amazing festivals, but honestly, if I had to pick one that was just incredible,
it would be this one.
It was amazing.
It sounds weird to say, because it's such a simple festival and it seems like such a
basic concept, but hopefully you'll see what I mean if you end up going there.
So yeah, that's my last recommendation, the wind chime festival, it was just amazing and
I really hope that you can make it there.
That's it for my top five summer activity recommendations for anyone in Japan, whether
it's visiting or living there.
I really hope that this has been helpful for you and that you can plan out some of these
activities for summer, and that you really enjoy your summer in Japan.
My next video in this series will be autumn's top five activities, of course.
It only makes sense, right?
So I hope that you guys will tune in for that as well.
Thanks so much for watching, and I will talk to you next time.
Peace!
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