Emi comes back home.

My elder daughter Emi had come back home last Friday for the first time since January this year. She is a sophomore at her college and is now on her summer vacation.

She stayed just three nights and has gone back her college dormitory today.

The main purpose she came back home was to get a new cell phone because her current one is half broken.

Emi and I went to a local electronics retail store to buy a new phone by bike yesterday. She was very glad to have gotten a brand new smartphone.

On our way back home, we found a cute baby puppy in front of a flower shop.

Nikko Water Wheel Park

We had an Obon holiday or a Buddhist festival holiday last week. 

My company CANON offers us one week paid holiday from August 13 to 17. 

Many people visit their ancestral graves and make offerings of flowers and incense. During this holiday, I went to Nikko Water Wheel park to enjoy a cooler atmosphere.

What's the Best Food on a Super Hot Summer Day in Japan?

 It's been very hot since the beginning of August in Japan.

On a day like these, the best choice to go is, I guess, an ice shavings shop.

I went to a restaurant called Miyoshi that is famous for its sweets in Utsunomiya, ordered a bowl of "ujikintoki" or shaved ice topped with green tea syrup and sweet bean paste.

I think it's too sweet for me but for people who have a sweet tooth will enjoy the taste very much.

Miya Matsuri Summer Festival, 2012

Kindergarten pupils dance with their nursery teacher.

Men carry a portable-shine or mikoshi wildly.

School girls wear yukata or summer cotton kimono talking at the corner of a street.