It’s quiet in my neighborhood now. I think half the people have gone on vacation. “Obon” is a convenient time to travel because many workers have a week off. However, traveling can be expensive. Air fares and hotel prices are 20-30% higher than usual, and a one-day pass for USJ is over 10,000 yen from August 11 to August 20. If you take the Nozomi super express, you have to pay extra for a reserved seat. Some “obon” prices are local. I noticed a price difference at the Italian restaurant in my neighborhood when I went there for lunch with a friend yesterday. We couldn’t order the usual lunch special. We had to pay weekend prices even though it was a weekday because it was “obon.”   (126 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

Summers are very hot, so people stay inside during the day and go out in the evening. I think that’s why there are so many night events at this time of year. Here in Nagoya, you can go to the night zoo or the night aquarium. Last Thursday, I went to the night aquarium. I wanted to check it out because we are hosting an environmental group from South Korea later this month, and I want to take them there. I’m sure they will enjoy it. The sardine tornado was impressive! You can watch thousands of shiny fish swimming around a giant tank with special lighting and dramatic music. I also want to show them the sea turtles. These turtles nest on the beaches along the Pacific coast of Japan, but they are not common in Korea.   (137 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

The Summer Koshien has started. I think everyone in Japan is rooting for the team in their own prefecture, and I am no different. I am rooting for Toyohashi Chuo High School from Aichi. It is their first time at the National High School Baseball Tournament. I was really looking forward to seeing their pitcher-catcher battery. These boys have been playing together since elementary school, and they are good! They played the West Tokyo team, Nihon Daigaku DaiSan, yesterday. It was an exciting game! Toyohashi got behind in the third inning, but the team came back and tied the game 2-2 in the sixth inning. I thought they were going to win until the other team got a home run. Toyohashi played well, but they lost 2-3. You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com

I still remember the first time I ate edamame. It was my second night in Japan, and a co-worker took me to his local bar. The woman behind the counter gave me some green beans. I put one in my mouth and started chewing. I chewed on it for a long time, but I couldn’t swallow it. The woman suddenly started laughing. She realized that I hadn’t taken the beans out of the pod. We didn’t have edamame in those days in the U.S., so I didn’t know how to eat them. Now, I love edamame. They taste great when you boil and salt them. They are in season now, and yesterday, my daughter gave me some fresh ones. We had them in the afternoon. What a great summer snack!    (130 words) You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com