Japanese summers are now so sweltering that the Meteorological Agency created a word to describe a whole new category of hot.
The term “kokushobi” (literally, “cruel hot day”) was coined to describe the brutal heat of temperatures 40 degrees Celsius and above. In previous years, 尘ō蝉丑辞产颈 (“fiercely hot days”) of 35 C or higher had ranked as the hottest, but by July, cities across Japan had already experienced multiple consecutive kokushobi days.
With dangerously hot summer days now a fact of life, my kitchen repertoire during August focuses on 蝉ō尘别苍 — the chilled, thread-thin wheat noodles that have refreshed heat-weary Japanese since at least the eighth century.
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