japanese summers

Hi there...

so I just looked some things up on youtube and suddenly I saw a video of a spider someone found in his car somewhere in Japan... it was like... huge, and extremely fast and just horrible :/

anyway, maybe you noticed by now, but I hate hate hate spiders. or to be precise, I am scared to death by everything that flies or crawls and bites...

the thing is, I plan on going to Japan during July... now, I've researched a bit and it seems it's not the best time to go because it's so hot and humid.

now, my first question is... what's hot and humid exactly? I've been to turkey for instance during summer, and there it can get up to 40C/104F. the thing is, I just need some comparison in order to know what I'm getting into. so, is there any other city or country japan's summer can be compared to?

and now, to get back to the critters and spiders... is there a big differnece between say May and July when it comes to crawly things? I am going to Tokyo and Kyoto mainly... and I am so afraid something will jump on me or something like that XD sorry to write like a total sissy here, but I guess I am one.
how are the chances to encounter those big centipedes and spiders they have over there are there? I want to see the local shrines and stuff, so that kind of includes nature...

anyway, all kinds of information on those two topics is welcomed :) thank you!

In recent years, climate has varied greatly from year to year.
Last year the summer in Kyoto didn't seem too bad but this year was deadly with a record number of consecutive days (30 something) with temperatures above 35C (a lot of days above 40C). Add to this the constant 99% humidity.

I never really noticed in Tokyo but spiders in Kyoto are vast and various. Some you get used to and other you don't. But if you walk along Kamogawa or Kawabata you can see some truly impressive spider webs (more like villages).

That said, spiders are our friends and after the initial shock of the initial encounter, things go back to normal. Anyway, if you're staying in a hotel the chances of encountering a noticeably large spider are slim at best.

I was in Tokyo and Kyoto in July 2009. It was usually around 35 C, and VERY humid - however, I come from Canada where it's very dry (though we do get to 35 C in the summer, sometimes). We did a lot of sweating and were exhausted by the end of the day, but we still managed and had a lot of fun.

As for spiders, I didn't see any. That's not to say you won't, but they're not lining the streets waiting to jump at you or anything!

You'll see many more bugs in July than May, including flying giant cockroaches, mosquitos, cicadas, etc,etc. Not so much in central Tokyo, but temples and shrines in Kyoto, for sure.