“Irori” – sunken hearth BBQ style cooking at glaminka. Image credit: Glacha.com
While we bunker down for winter in Australia, summer in the northern hemisphere is in full swing. And with such contrasting seasons – spanning from sub-zero to sub-tropical – the warmer weather in Japan is always a great excuse to try out new things and enjoy life in a different way.
From the re-opening of Mount Fuji to new experiential stays and ‘space beer’, here’s a guide to some of the latest trends and activities in Japan, so you can start to imagine what your next summer season trip to The Land of The Rising Sun might look like.
Experiential accommodation experiences are on trend
In Japan, unlike many destinations, your accommodation doesn’t just have to be a place to lay your head at night – it can also become an important feature of your overall cultural experience. In fact, the respect and admiration for traditional customs and ways of life is so widespread in Japan that learning about Japanese culture through an accommodation experience is becoming increasingly popular – and easy to find.
Recently opened, glaminka gives guests the chance to experience what life would have been like at an old Japanese house hotel. Located in Sayo-Cho in Hyogo Prefecture, glaminka is a luxury hotel made up of 4 renovated historical Japanese houses. While staying at the hotel, guests enjoy a dinner BBQ, known as “Irori” – a traditional sunken hearth – with local ingredients such as Wagyu beef and river fish. The beautiful uninterrupted natural landscape surrounding the hotel offers a taste of the simple life and is ideal for peaceful relaxing walks.
Similarly, Craftsmen’s Inn KAJI is a 90-year-old traditional Japanese-style rental house in Tsubamesanjo, an area famous for craftsmanship 2 hours from Tokyo by shinkansen (bullet train). Offering the chance to experience a lodging experience like a local, guests can wander around the property and muse the many locally made products, or even experience a guided factory tour.
For a more contemporary Japanese experience, why not consider a night at a ‘cat ryokan’ in Osaka Prefecture. The hostel, known as Neko Hatago, offers eight pre-modern Edo Period (1603-1868) styled dormitory rooms which have been designed to allow guests to gaze at a myriad of cats as they fall asleep. Each dormitory features a large window by each bedside into the adjoining cat café.
The cat ryokan, Osaka. Image credit: The Japan Times
Reawakening in a pandemic
Social distancing umbrellas for travellers
Visitors to Ikaho hot springs resort in Japan’s centrally located Shibukawa city, Gunma Prefecture, can now enjoy extra peace of mind by borrowing a new novel social distancing umbrella. As part of an initiative by the Shibukawa Ikaho Onsen Tourism Association called the “Ikaho Onsen x JT Social Distance Project”, the large umbrellas are free to use and are designed to keep people at a safe distance. Meanwhile, they conveniently feature an Ikaho town map printed on the inside of the umbrella to help people get around.
It’s OK to peep at one of Japan’s newest socially distanced theatres
Innovatively pivoting during the pandemic, Nagoya-based dance company, Moon Light Theatre, has tackled social distancing requirements by launching a new dance tour ‘Peeping Garden / re:creation’ that relies on people peeping. Its fully mobile circular touring stage has been specially designed to be self-contained for the performers while an audience of 28 can sit on the outside in a private booth looking in through peepholes.
Socially distanced peeping theatre. Image credit: Odoru-Akita
Move over cherry blossoms, it’s hydrangea season
We’ve all heard of Japan’s cherry blossom season, but what about hydrangea season? Built in 729, the ancient Buddhist temple, Gansen-ji Temple, in Kyoto Prefecture’s Kizugawa City is currently enjoying an impressively vibrant bloom of pink and blue hydrangea flowers from around 5,000 plants spanning 30 varieties. This year, it has been reported that the flowers have bloomed in greater quantities and with more vivid colours than usual.
Annual Dotonbori River Manto Festival – 1 July – 31 August 2021
First launched in 1999, this year’s annual Dotonbori River Manto Festival in Osaka saw 1,300 beautiful lanterns lining both sides of the river. Stretching around 800 metres, some of the lanterns were decorated with messages of support for the downtown district which has been severely affected by the pandemic. The lanterns stay lit throughout the summer until 31st August.
Mount Fuji reopens to climbers after it closed for COVID-19 in 2020
Much to the excitement of domestic tourists, Mount Fuji on the border of Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefecture has just reopened to climbers. After staying closed during last year’s summer season because of the pandemic, the most popular of Mount Fuji’s 4 walking tracks was the first to be reopened on the 1st of July with the remaining three reopening in early to mid-July. In an effort to keep tourists safe, visitors to the mountain are expected to take a temperature check and complete a health form.
Summertime fun
It’s the season for cubed-shaped watermelons
What could be more refreshing than a cool slice of watermelon as temperatures rise and the humidity builds? Right now, watermelons are ready for sale in Japan, but they don’t always look like watermelons as we know them here in Australia – because they’re cube-shaped.
Seemingly defying nature, cubed-shaped watermelons are in season at this time of year in Japan and the most impressive part is, there’s absolutely no genetic trickery involved. To achieve the cubed appearance, farmers simply grow each watermelon in a plastic container reinforced with a steel frame. And if you are wondering why – well – there’s a perfectly logical explanation. Growing watermelons into a cube means they can fit neatly into people’s fridges.
Cubed watermelon. Image credit: Asian Inspirations
Giving ‘cool’ fashion a whole new meaning: Apparel with built-in fans
Japanese innovation knows no bounds. A major fibre manufacturer in Tokyo, Teijin Ltd, is set to trial a new type of casual clothing in the coming months, releasing outfits with built-in battery-powered fans – such as vests and jackets – to keep wearers cool in the heat. It’s hoped the new fashion clothing line will be available to mainstream retailers next summer.
47 ‘localised’ flavours of Frappucino
Nothing says more about Japan’s diverse and highly-regarded foodie culture than the launch of 47 ‘localised’ flavours of Frappucino. For a limited time, Starbucks Japan has released exclusive local versions of its Frappucino in all 47 Japanese Prefectures. The flavourings recognise local specialities, from creamed corn in Hokkaido to sweet bean paste in Aichi Prefecture and chinsuko biscuit vanilla caramel in Okinawa.
Space flavoured beer is on the way in Japan – no really, it is
A Japanese craft beer brewing company, Kamiyama Beer, has partnered with Tokushima University to send beer yeast via balloon to the Earth’s stratosphere. It’s expected that the exposure to subzero temperatures and strong ultraviolet rays will make the beer fruitier and spicier than beer brewed with ordinary yeast. Kamiyama Beer are hoping the beer will be available to buy later in the year.
For more information, please contact:
James Cooley | james.cooley@standoutcontent.com.au | +61 401 316 701
