Salty Watermelon Pepsi

The taste of summer... salty watermelon Pepsi.

Japan is known for taking popular global products and putting a local spin on the flavours, from Kit Kats (green tea, wasabi, every flavour you can think of...), to Pretzels (okonomiyaki flavour, anyone?), to Pepsi. I had read stories about some of Japan's disastrous seasonal Pepsi varieties, with ice cucumber and azuki bean receiving awful reviews. Nevertheless, there seemed to be a sort of legendary hype surrounding Japan's limited edition Pepsi flavours. I immediately wanted to be a part of the taste-testing tradition.

Then it was announced that the special Pepsi flavour for Summer 2012 was going to be Salty Watermelon, a nod to all things summery and sweet, taking into account the fondness of Japanese for sprinkling salt on their fruit. I was excited. But also a little disappointed - it was almost too normal. I had actually had dreams about what Pepsi Japan were concocting in their laboratories, and was fully preparing myself for 'Pepsi: Bacon Blast' or 'Pepsi: Sushi Surprise' (complete with a live fish swimming in the bottle).

Salty Watermelon Pepsi was released yesterday, July 24th, and naturally I went straight to a conbini to find it. There it was, in Lawson, lined in a neat, pink, row in the refrigerator... pink. Was not expecting pink.

It was a very hot day, 34 degrees, and I was more than ready to swig the sucker down. It first hit me with a wash of watermelon, sort of sickly but at the same time refreshing. The watermelon assualt was followed by the familiar sharp, syrupy cola taste of normal Pepsi, creating a thought-provoking union of flavours. Retained fizz nicely. Satisfying 'chhhhhhh' when opening bottle, even an hour after first opening. Unique pink shade grew on me, despite initially reminding me of nail polish remover.

I think Pepsi might be onto a winner.

Ashiya Summer Carnival

Fireworks at Ashiya Summer Carnival

Summer festivals in Japan don't necessarily need to be steeped in tradition, ritual and ceremony. Some of them - like the 34th Ashiya Summer Carnival held last night - are simply glorified beach parties, an excuse to feel the sand between your toes while squealing at fireworks. After a day of thunderstorms and torrential rain, luckily by sunset the skies had cleared - and it seemed like the whole of Hyogo prefecture turned up to enjoy the show.

Ashiya sunset

Ashiya is a perfect gem of a city, about halfway between Osaka and Kobe. It's nestled behind a mountain range, and has a sparkling tree-lined river that turns into the sprawling Osaka Bay. My friend told me it's known as Japan's Hollywood because so many famous people live there. As we walked along the river to the carnival, we could easily make out a number of beautiful mansions - actual mansions, too, not just the Japanese meaning of a mansion!

Riverbank and flash houses

After a 40 minute walk along the riverbank with about 50,000 people, we made it to the beach right on time for the fireworks display. Fireworks were watched intermittently with visiting food stalls. I chose my favourites; takoyaki and toffee apples. The toffee apple somehow ended up all through my hair. Actually, apple ended up being the theme of the night. On the way home we stopped into a conbini for drinks, and ended up discovering apple flavoured Fanta. It was a big deal.

Gion Matsuri 2012

It seems like the second we got back from Korea, summer decided to unleash itself on Kansai. While this means sticky, uncomfortable heat all day and night, it also means summer festivals, or 'matsuri', with plenty of opportunities to dress up in traditional Japanese summer clothes, gorge on festival foods such as yakisoba and candy apples, and enjoy float processions and firework displays.

Gion Matsuri in Kyoto is one of Japan's most famous festivals, said to be over a thousand years old. It lasts all through July, but the festival climaxes on the 17th with the grand parade. The three nights leading up to this parade are known as yoiyama, which are pre-parades. We went to the Gion Matsuri yoiyama on the 16th, which was the hottest day of the year so far.

Shijo-Karasuma, Kyoto, on night of Gion Matsuri Yoiyama

Traditional musicians playing on naginata-boko

For me, one of the best parts of the festival was getting to see lots of people dressed up in yukata and jinbei. Especially the girls - the colours and patterns of the yukata were so bright, the obi bows were so cute, and hairstyles were immaculate. I decided to wear a jinbei, which consists of a top and shorts - usually men wear them, but I found a very girly version, and thought it was kind of funky. On the way to Kyoto we got some funny looks on the train, and even heard two old men loudly appraising our outfits. It was a relief to finally meet up with the other exchange students, and see them also looking awkward in various states of Japanese dress (one student had rather creatively paired hiking boots with his yukata).

Rocking the jinbei.

Girls in yukata

We spent about an hour walking up and down the streets, listening to the music of the men sitting in the naginata-boko, watching the police meekly try to organise the crowds into two orderly lines, and complaining about the heat. Then someone suggested we check out the food stalls, and I'm not ashamed to admit that the rest of the night was spent eating everything from chocolate ice bananas to fried potato curls.

Food stalls (shaved ice in the front)

Yakisoba stall

Festival atmosphere

Going to a matsuri in Japan is one of those must-do cultural experiences. Even if you're not really interested in the history behind the festivals, it's worth it just to party with the locals - whether it be being handed a container of yakisoba at a street vendor by a heavily tattooed man, scooping up a goldfish at a stall with a little kid, or sitting in the gutter drinking chu-hi with a group of drunk university students.

Summer Fashion in Japan

I have class at 9am every morning, and this is my typical routine: wake up at 8am, grab a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, slap on some make up, and check Facebook while eating breakfast. I leave my apartment at 8.45am, just as the Kandai-mae train pulls into the station, unloading about half of the student population. I join the mob of students, and we all snake our way up the hill to Kansai University.

Outside the Library at Kansai University

I always feel really inadequate during these daily walks to university. See, it's not like back home in New Zealand, where students wear leggings, puffer jackets and jandals to class (hell, I've seen people in pyjama pants). In Japan, university is the equivalent of a Nicki Minaj concert. Everyone looks fabulous. The walk up to Kandai is a sea of leather, lace and sequins - and that's just the boys!

I'm joking. Sort of. Japanese boys are noticeably fashion conscious. They will regularly wear suits to class, and snappy, expensive looking shoes. And the hair. We have a hair salon on campus, and I was in there one day waiting for Ryan to get his hair cut. There was a guy sitting next to me who had the most perfect locks I have ever seen. No idea why he needed to get his hair re-done. He kept fiddling with it as he waited, looking at himself adoringly in the mirror, tilting his head at different angles and making a pouty face. He was clearly obsessed, and I'm willing to bet he spends more time in that salon than in class.

It's the girls who really fascinate me. They get so dressed up for class. Almost all Japanese girls wear painful looking high heels to university each day. And when I say high heels, I mean sky-high stilettos that are made for clubbing. I just love the thought process behind these choices. 'Ooh, history class today... I know! I'll wear my Jimmy Choos.'

I'm quite happy wearing my converse sneakers. But if I wanted to, I could upsize to a scary looking platform sneaker. I'm having Spice Girl flashbacks so bad right now.

Summer trends in Japan are easy to pick up on, mainly because girls in Japan follow them religiously. Magazines just have to say the key word - for example, 'DENIM' - and suddenly, like magic, everyone is wearing something denim. Denim shirts, jackets and dresses are huge right now.

Another trend that a lot of Japanese girls are wearing are 'tattoo tights'. These are stockings that have tattoo designs on them so it looks like you have tattoos on your legs. Funky and rebellious!

Something interesting about summer fashion in Japan is that a lot of it is aimed at preventing exposure to the sun. While western countries find a suntan attractive, Japan (and Asia in general, I presume) see pale skin as highly desirable. Instead of fake tan, they sell skin whiteners. When it's a hot, sunny day, many women will actually carry umbrellas to shade themselves. I've even seen girls wearing face masks, the sort people wear when they have a cold, to hide their faces from the sun.

Surprisingly, one sun-smart accessory that hasn't caught on is sunglasses. I hardly ever see Japanese people wearing them. I asked my friend why, and he said sunglasses are seen as something that only 'Yakuza, rich people, and gaijin' wear. I wondered if I was being rude by wearing sunglasses, but my friend assured me no, I wasn't, but I was just acting like a stereotypical foreigner.

What a tourist.

I recently donned a pair of (ridiculously huge) sunglasses on a trip to Nara. It was a really sunny day, so I thought, why not. There were a lot of middle school students on a field trip in Nara that day, and my sunglasses became a topic of fascination. A group of boys came up to me, and one of them said 'Gaga, Gaga, I love you!' Then two groups of girls asked in giggly English if they could take photos with me. Oh, it was awkward. And I'm still not sure if being compared to Lady Gaga is a compliment. But hey. Sometimes it's fun to live the life of the rich and famous.