Trains, airplanes, and other forms of transportation are invariably overcrowded and the expressways clogged with traffic jams. In this issue, we look at how people spend this holiday that is the symbol of the Japanese summer, introducing the stories of elementary, junior, and senior high school students. Traditionally it is believed that the spirits of the ancestors revisit ancestral homes during midsummer, and people take this occasion to pay their respects to family graves. Family and relatives gather together, enjoy each other's company while honoring the spirits of those who came before them, and then all go their separate ways. The school year begins in April, and the first semester stretches until July.
Summer vacation comes midway through the school year.
There is a two week vacation in late December and early January and two weeks off in late March, but summer vacation is the longest holiday. There are no classes during the summer, but most schools provide special classes in swimming, and junior and senior high school sports and other recreation clubs meet almost every day for practice or projects. Many juku have special intensive classes during the summer. As the summer continues after O-Bon, the climate changes gradually and the typhoon season begins. Most working people in Japan take off an average of 3.8 days during the summer except for weekends.