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，想要短暂逃离人山人海的市中心的人们，通常会抽出两三天时间度个短假。夏日里的遁世休养之旅，只需要找到一眼温泉就够了。在日本最南端的指宿市，水疗爱好者选择把身体裹在沙子里。指宿市位于开闻岳火山附近——该火山最近一次爆发是在公元885年——黑砂浴是当地的特色。游客先把自己埋在炙热且富含矿物质的火山沉积物中待上15分钟，再到附近的温泉里浸泡一番。超过90%的游客是日本人，他们大多为温泉而来。在日本其他地方，度假者会参加一些节日的庆祝活动，譬如汇聚了饿鬼、怪兽以及由面具代表的幸运精灵火男和阿龟的盂兰盆节。过盂兰盆节的时候，那些居住在乡村或已经搬走的家庭会阖家团聚，以扫墓的方式纪念先人。为期三天的假日即将结束时，人们为了祭奠亡灵，会放出发光的灯笼，让它们飞向夜空。节庆活动包含游行，舞者会就着太鼓声和笛子声跳扇子舞。同样在这个周末还有名为“大日向点火”的火祭，为的是纪念武田氏于1561年攻克南牧村。舞火者点燃用10英尺的绳索捆绑起来的稻草，在大日向桥上挥舞出一个个火圈。