This summer has been hotter and longer than most. But rather than fight it and hide indoors in the air conditioning, I just put on my bikini.
Westerners of all ages seem to embrace the summer with a certain zest: tank tops, shorts, sandals, wrinkles, skin cancer. The Japanese, on the other hand, do not seem to be suited for the heat.
I remember as a child in the summertime in the United States running in and out of the house all day long in bare feet. Not in Japan. Children are not allowed to go outside without changing from indoor slippers to outdoor footwear. You cannot reverse the process either, and simply run into the house from outside, even if you are running from lions. They'd surely catch up with you and swallow you once you reached the genkan shoe change.