Much as I hate to admit it, summertime in Tokyo is less than joyous. The season just doesn't have that celebratory, liberating mood, it doesn't slow down, grow languid or lean back with an iced tea. Summertime in Tokyo means sweating businessmen carrying suit jackets with their forefingers to cut fabric contact down to a minimum, and office girls sitting with woolen blankets over their laps to avoid the industrial chill of the air conditioner.
There are always a few cases of serious food poisoning. Tap water acquires the smell and taste of an infirmary trash bin. To top it all off, it's sacrilege to take more than five working days off. It's no wonder the Japanese have traditionally described summer with these words: natsuyase (summer slimming), natsubate (summer fatigue) and natsugare (summer wilting).
The sad thing is: It's not all that different for children. When you're a child in Tokyo, natsuyasumi (summer vacation) kicks off no sooner than July 20 and shrieks to a halt Aug. 31 -- half the length of vacations in places like the U.S. and France. During this time, the children are saddled with natsuyasumi no shukudai (summer vacation homework) which I am convinced was dreamed up by the Marquis de Sade then somehow exported to Japan because his fellow countrymen wouldn't have it.