Short two- to three-day vacations, a typical length in Japan, offer a brief refuge from life in the country’s densely populated city centers. A summer escape might be as simple as a visit to an onsen, or hot-springs spa. In Ibusuki, at the southern end of the country, spagoers soak in sand. The black-sand treatment is a specialty of the area, which lies in the shadow of the Kaimondake volcano, which last erupted in 885. Visitors spend 15 minutes buried in hot, mineral-laden volcanic sediment followed by a soak in nearby springs. More than 90 percent of visitors to this region are Japanese, and most arrive seeking an onsen. Elsewhere around Japan, vacationers take part in festivals like Obon, featuring ogres, monsters and the lucky spirits Hyottoko and Okame, represented by masks. Obon is an occasion for families — those who live in rural villages and those who moved away — to gather and honor their ancestors by cleaning the graves of relatives. At the end of the three-day holiday, the dead are celebrated with a release of glowing lanterns that float into the night skies. Festivities include parades with fan dancers marching to taiko drums and fue flutes. On the same weekend, the Ohinata no Hitoboshi fire festival commemorates the Takeda clan’s conquest of Nanmoku village in 1561. Fire handlers twirl bundles of lighted hay attached to 10-foot ropes, whipping up rings of flame on Ohinata Bridge. J.L.
在日本，想要短暫逃離人山人海的市中心的人們，通常會抽出兩三天時間度個短假。夏日里的遁世休養(yǎng)之旅，只需要找到一眼溫泉就夠了。在日本最南端的指宿市，水療愛好者選擇把身體裹在沙子里。指宿市位于開聞岳火山附近——該火山最近一次爆發(fā)是在公元885年——黑砂浴是當?shù)氐奶厣Ｓ慰拖劝炎约郝裨谥藷崆腋缓V物質(zhì)的火山沉積物中待上15分鐘，再到附近的溫泉里浸泡一番。超過90%的游客是日本人，他們大多為溫泉而來。在日本其他地方，度假者會參加一些節(jié)日的慶?；顒樱┤鐓R聚了餓鬼、怪獸以及由面具代表的幸運精靈火男和阿龜?shù)挠厶m盆節(jié)。過盂蘭盆節(jié)的時候，那些居住在鄉(xiāng)村或已經(jīng)搬走的家庭會闔家團聚，以掃墓的方式紀念先人。為期三天的假日即將結(jié)束時，人們?yōu)榱思赖焱鲮`，會放出發(fā)光的燈籠，讓它們飛向夜空。節(jié)慶活動包含游行，舞者會就著太鼓聲和笛子聲跳扇子舞。同樣在這個周末還有名為“大日向點火”的火祭，為的是紀念武田氏于1561年攻克南牧村。舞火者點燃用10英尺的繩索捆綁起來的稻草，在大日向橋上揮舞出一個個火圈。
