PHOTO of the DAY (JAPAN) Dial up warning

[AsahinaKimi]

A man beats the drum as he offers prayers in front of the cenotaph for atomic bomb victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on the eve of the 66th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing on the city, Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Bonus Photos

South Korean residents in Japan offer prayers in front of the cenotaph for Korean atomic bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on Friday, on the eve of the 66th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing on this city.


Women clad in happi coats carry a huge tengu (long-nosed goblin) mask in one of the highlights of the Numata Festival, which kicked off in the Gunma Prefecture city of Numata on Aug. 3. This year gallery seats were set up at the starting point of the mask's route through the central city, and guests including those hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami were invited. The festival runs through Aug. 5. (Mainichi)


Lanterns on frames are hoisted into the air during the annual Akita Kanto Festival, which started in Akita on Aug. 3. A record 255 lantern displays, or "kanto," are on show at the festival, featuring about 10,000 individual lanterns. This year some of them carried the message, "Do your best, Tohoku" -- directed to areas hit hard by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. The largest display, supported on a pole carried by an individual participant, carries 46 lanterns and weighs around 50 kilograms, and the poles are as long as 12 meters. The festival runs until Aug. 6. (Mainichi)


Paper cranes -- each printed with the poem "Ame ni mo makezu" (We will not lose to the rain) by late Iwate Prefecture native Kenji Miyazawa -- are seen strung over a shopping arcade in Tokyo's Nakano Ward, part of the local merchant association's efforts to raise funds for disaster-stricken northeastern Japan. The fundraising campaign began at the end of May, with customers paying 10 yen or more for a sheet of the special origami paper, and as of Aug. 1 some 21,000 cranes had been folded and strung above the arcade. (Mainichi)


Floats and performers are seen traveling down a street in Aomori on Aug. 2, 2011. Fifteen large floats measuring about five meters tall and nine meters wide traveled the streets as dancers yelled out chants in the annual Aomori Nebuta Festival. The floats included a depiction of Masamune Date, a famous historical figure associated with the city of Sendai, which was hit hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (Mainichi)


A diver feeds fish at Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo during a press preview on Monday, Aug. 1, 2011. The newly refurbished aquarium reopened on Thursday, Aug. 4. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Mainichi ohatu ~Something new every day

[Chimichurri]

1. So beautiful! Thank you.

[AsahinaKimi]

2. Thank you for your kind words.

I wonder how many people here, knew there were Korean Deaths, in Hiroshima in 1945. I just learned this about a year ago.

[formercia]

4. It seems logical, considering the History between Japan and Korea.

I would think that many were Laborers, brought to Japan to replace Men in the Military.

[otohara]

3. Domo

love the daily updates and Japan photo(s)

[AsahinaKimi]

6. Thank you so much..

its fun! Tanoshin demasu!

[Mojorabbit]

5. Ihave a whole album

of photos from the Nebuta Festival I attended in the 70's. The drum and flute rhythms were hypnotizing. Good memories.

[AsahinaKimi]

7. sugoii!

I bet the photos are amazing!

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. k&r

[AsahinaKimi]

9. bumping up for the night crew

Enjoy!