PHOTO of the DAY (JAPAN)

[AsahinaKimi]

A young woman lifts a pair of straw bails during a July 9, 2011, tryout to become a carrier for "Gyaru Mikoshi," or lady portable shrine; part of the upcoming Tenjin festival in Osaka. This year will mark the 31st Gyaru Mikoshi event, in which 80 women aged 15 to 30 are chosen to carry portable shrines at the festival. The contest's theme this year is "dress up," and the 252 women at the July 9 tryout hoisted the 70-kilogram bails of straw in a variety of outfits, from China dresses to karate uniforms. The 80 women selected will do their shrine-hoisting on July 23. (Mainichi)


bonus

A boy looks back at an 18-meter tall statue of the "Tetsujin 28 Go" or "Gigantor" manga character in Kobe on Sunday, July 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)


Bathers swim at a beach in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Mt Fuji, hidden by clouds, can be partially seen in the background.


A man carries a backpack equipped with a solar panel and a portable battery that can recharge cell phones and laptop computers, at the Design Products Fair in Tokyo this week.

[Adsos Letter]

1. That beach in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture looks marvelous!

Beautiful water; any idea how cold the water is?

[AsahinaKimi]

3. Not sure ..however

I would swim there! I can't say the same for our Beaches in San Francisco..Our waters look so dirty and brown, I have no idea whats in our waters..other then Great White Sharks.

[Adsos Letter]

7. I live about 30 miles from San Francisco. I've never been impressed with the Bay water

or Ocean Beach, but further up north is nice, although cold. :hi:

[sce56]

5. I don't know what the temp is there but in Okinawa when I was first there in 98 the water was 86F

And a big coral bleaching followed!
But I wonder what the Cesium and Strontium levels are there?

[Sal Minella]

2. Great pix, thanks! n/t

[AsahinaKimi]

4. you are welcome!

[Bonobo]

6. My island's upcoming Summer Festival

These are "danjiri -bune" (shrine boats).

My kids will be dancing and playing the flute on them in full costume again this year and I will be joining 50 others or so to carry a 3 ton portable shrine on my shoulders.

[AsahinaKimi]

8. I hope someone takes photos

I would love to see photos from your festival! Happy Natsu Matsuri!

[mahina]

9. Is it bon dance season there too?

It's bon dance time here. Every weekend!

[AsahinaKimi]

11. We used to have the Bon Dance/Natsu Matsuri

at Nihonmachi but they stopped it. Maybe couldn't get enough sponsors. Then again, they do have about three street festivals at Japantown. Maybe three is enough?

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Thanks for these photos