Past Rainy Season and onto Summer

Rainy season was quite short this year.  It normally lasts about one month (June), but this year the amount of rain was sporadic at best.  I definitely didn't use my rain boots as often as I thought I would.

Rainy season is considered "over" when there are 10 consecutive days with no rain.  This happened around early July, so we're in the clear for now.  

As summer begins, humidity is blanketing the country - and boy, is it humid!  Back in California, we don't have any significant humidity and our summers are hot and dry.  Here, "hot" takes on a new meaning with the thick air and muggy wetness that permeates everything.  

My walk to work - a usually enjoyable 15 minute stroll - is now less than fun.  The pavement is hot and I'm starting to sweat by the time I arrive to work.  Luckily I often have an hour to prepare before my first class during which I can cool down and refresh myself.  

Many ladies have pulled our their parasols and UV-repelling clothing, covering as much skin as they can tolerate since the sun's rays are strong.  Tanning is not a common pastime here, so it's not unusual to see women wearing long sleeves and pants with gloves despite the heat.  They try to balance their own comfort level, concern about UV rays/skin cancer/tanning, as well as fashion.  You can tell which ladies care more about each of these items based on what they wear.  

Japan, of course, has capitalized on this summer heat and offers many products to provide more comfort.  There are cooling packs, cooling clothing (from gloves to undershirts, socks, and more), handkerchiefs, cold candies, and more.  My co-worker introduced me to some "salt candy," which is eaten to restore the salt you lose while sweating.  It reminds me of Gatorade in a soft-melting tablet form and tastes like a Vitamin C chewable.  Everyone can be seen sweating at all times a day, or using handkerchiefs to dab at their faces.  Kids wear cooling handkerchiefs around their neck, as do many older men and women.  

The humidity causes more problems, especially in your home.  I've learned that you can't keep it out, but you can try to reduce it.  In addition to providing you more comfort, you need to reduce the humidity inside your home in order to prevent mold.  Yes, mold... I was really surprised at first since I didn't consider this possible.  But, again, this is not California anymore.  Here, mold is a normal problem in the summer.  When I first heard about this from my manager, I used my next available weekend to clean my apartment top-to-bottom and then buy some dehumidifers.  Japan has these neat portable ones that you place in various places of your apartment (closet, bed area, etc) to absorb the water in the air.  I've placed three around and they have filled up in one month.  I just bought new replacements today - thankfully they're super cheap (198 yen ~ $2 for 3).

Portable dehumidifier - cheap and very effective.

The other essential is fans.  I have been keeping my bathroom fan and another fan on in my apartment 24/7 to keep air flowing and things dry.  I was surprised again that this was required, but my manager advised me it would be the best approach to prevent mold.  I do turn them off periodically, but most times they are on.  

People can also buy bed sheets, pillow covers, and even mats for your futon which provide a cool surface to sleep on.  I didn't bother with these, relying on my fan most times.  I use the A/C as well - but try not to keep it on all day or night.  For one, it's expensive and secondly, it's not good to sleep with it on.  

The other aspect of summer that has started buzzing around is all the bugs.  As some of you know, I have a deep dislike for bugs of all kinds - shape, size, color, purpose, I don't care.  I don't want them anywhere near me. Apparently, bugs are a fact of life here, especially a more rural area like I'm in.  There are 2 main ones I've been advised against:  (1) mosquitos and (2) cockroaches.  Gross, huh?  I was, again, shocked to hear how normal these are for people here.  My impression of places with cockroaches is: dirty, grimy, and horrible.  I didn't imagine I'd encounter them much here in Japan.  Of course, I had read about it before I came, but I thought they could be preventable and avoidable.  

So far, I've had no direct attacks from cockroaches to my apartment - thankfully!  I have been keeping things clean with vinegar and making sure I'm not leaving any food or trash out to tempt them.  Since trash pick up is only on certain days, and food waste is Mon/Thurs, I often put a bag of food waste in the freezer to prevent smells from attracting bugs.  Overall cleanliness and disinfecting solutions (like vinegar) should help prevent cockroaches.  I can only keep my fingers-crossed though.  I still have another 2 months to go before summer ends and I will keep up my guard against them.  

I did see one cockroach out on the landing walkway of my apartment building - I was completely freaked out and kept jumping at small noises the rest of the night.  But it's been a week and I haven't seen it or others since.  I'm hoping it went to someone else's apartment and was killed.  

The other potential creepy thing is mosquitos.  My town is between two rivers, and the extra humidity in the air, attract mosquitos.  People complain about bites on their skin or about lack of sleep since the mosquitos were buzzing near their ear.  This last one scares me - imagining them so close and at your ear while you sleep!  It makes me shiver...  I looked into ways to deal with them including mosquito nets and such, but decided against going overboard.  With the weather so hot, I've been keeping my windows shut almost all the time, so there is little opportunity for them to enter my apartment.  In the event one does, I've purchased an awesome product - essentially a mosquito repelling machine, which sprays a vapor into the air which kills and repels mosquitos.  My co-worker told me about it and I've been so grateful.  She advised keeping it turned "on" all the time, but the first night I tried that, I got a big migraine which lasted for 2 days.  I think I had a bad reaction of some sort.  Since then, I only turn it on while I'm at work and then turn it off when I get home and when I sleep.  It's been working great.

Katorisenko - Electric vapor-style Mosquito Repellant.

As mentioned, summer will last until September or so.... I still have a few months left of these conditions.  It's times like Summer that I really feel the differences between California and Japan, and start missing home.  It's definitely a good experience, but I could do without the traumatic encounters with huge bumblebees and 83% humidity that feels like you are walking through mist.  

On a lighter note - Summer also means festivals and the beach.  I haven't made it to either of these yet (work has been busy and stressful), but I hope to go to both in August.  Until then - here's one more pic of the view from my apartment: 

A beautiful sunset in rural Kanagawa.