Summer Motifs

Early summer - fishing for zarigani (crayfish)

When you hear the word “summer”, what immediately springs to mind? Growing up in Sydney, summer meant one thing: the beach. As a kid, I drew starfish and shell motifs, and summer holidays meant weeks without shoes at my Grandma’s house on the beach, eating BBQ, going night fishing, building bonfires on the sand, and the coconutty scent of Reef Lotion (not on me – as a very pale kid, I had to wear thick, milky sunscreen that left a pearly white sheen). We’d collect cicada shells to wear like brooches and scramble up the tracks into the bush to find Aboriginal rock carvings. At night, my Grandma would set up hurricane lanterns on the table outside, spray us with citrusy insect repellent and we’d have boiled corn, foil-wrapped, roast potatoes and sausages, lamb chops or maybe her famous sesame chicken wings and salad in a big wooden bowl with “French” dressing.

If I had to choose typical symbols of Australian summer, I guess mangoes and cherries, thongs (flip flops) and snorkelling gear, Chiko rolls and fish and chips, sunglasses and sunscreen? Any others? Since Australia is so temperate, we could get almost any food at any time of the year and go swimming almost anytime except July and August (midwinter). For me, oysters are a summer treat – arranged on a platter of ice, with a wedge of lemon – but my Japanese friends are adamant that oysters are a winter treat, which taste best cooked.

Moving to Japan, I found a whole new language of summer motifs. Summer greeting cards are popular, often printed with standard messages along the lines of “take care in the summer heat” and a scene redolent of summer. You’ll see summer motifs everywhere – on cards, stickers, yukata fabrics, store curtains, handkerchiefs, chopstick rests and packaging - kakigori (shaved ice), beetles (kids love to spend the summer holidays catching and documenting bugs), watermelon, goldfish, fireworks, windchimes, katoributa, houzuki and morning glory plants, sunflowers, cucumber, corn, uchiwa, yukata and of course, beer.

Summer postcard: kakigori with matcha syrup,  adzuki beans and condensed milk

Morning glory plants 

Sunflowers near our house

Yukata for the whole family at Mitsukoshi

Sumo looking for cool drinks in yukata with summery prints.

Even your dog can wear a yukata, with goldfish or morning glory designs

It was interesting to re-watch “My Neigbour Totoro” recently on TV. I could see immediately that it started around late May or June, just by the plants and everyone’s frantically planting rice. Then it moves into rainy season, with hydrangeas, frogs and sudden afternoon downpours, before moving into summer, with vegetables like cucumber, corn, tomatoes and eggplant washing in a cool stream; the sound of cicadas, giant sunflowers, the kids sleeping under mosquito nets, and the Dad using an uchiwa. Before I moved here I wasn't so aware of the strong divide between the seasons.

For many Japanese people, the archetypal image of summer would probably be Dad in his suteteko (summer underwear that looks like a pair of long, light cotton shorts), sitting on the tatami floor, drinking beer, snacking on edamame, fanning himself with his uchiwa (a fixed, rather than folding fan), watching the annual Koshien baseball tournament, as the katorisenko (mosquito coil) keeps the mosquitos at bay.

Stickers with typical summer motifs

How I plan to spend summer - relaxing on the tatami. It says "sometimes, you're allowed to slack off".

What are the symbols of summer where you live?