Yukata (浴衣)

The Kyoto summer is brutal.  Hot and hotter.  Humid and more humid.

But it's not all misery.  With summer comes the yukata - a lightweight, casual kimono.  The vibrant colors and lively patterns of these comfortable cotton robes bring a certain joy and exuberance to the city when the temperature soars.

Yukata means "bathing cloth" and it was originally worn after bathing at a sento (communal bathhouse).  It has long since evolved into the essential item in the Japanese summer wardrobe, especially in Kyoto.  A yukata and geta (wooden sandals) are the de rigueur festival fashion for the month-long Gion Matsuri in July.  Perhaps because it is less fussy than the traditional kimono it seems to be particularly popular with young people, both men and women. 

While beating the heat seems a truly impossible task, one can at least suffer in style in a cool yukata.

The Katsura Cocktail

Sometimes it is just so hot in Kyoto the only thing to do is put on your jinbei and fix yourself a cocktail.

I created this drink one blazing day last summer.  There is nothing especially Japanese about it except the shiso leaf ("Japanese mint"), but 35°C (95°F) and 80% humidity are somehow a little more bearable on this archipelago with one of these in your hand.

The Katsura Cocktail

1 fresh shiso leaf

juice of 1/4 lemon

dash simple syrup

2 oz. Bombay London Dry gin (I don’t have a jigger, so this is a free-pour guess)

1 tsp Ricard pastis

soda

Muddle the shiso in a shaker.  Add the lemon juice and simple syrup.  Add the gin and pastis.  Fill the shaker with ice and stir.  Fill a highball glass half full with ice.  Strain the contents of the shaker into the glass.  Top with soda and stir.  Garnish with a shiso leaf and a cucumber slice.

Kampai!