Uchimizu

Long before the air conditioning was invented, the Japanese people created multiple traditional methods to cool off during scorching summer days... some of them were just psychical, like the furin, other were... delicious, like kakigori. Of course, there's also the ubiquitous hand fan, but probably the most interesting of these methods is the uchimizu custom.

Performed by people elegantly dressed in colorful yukata, the uchimizu consists in splashing water over the pavement in front of the houses, stores or inside the Japanese gardens, to cool off the area, keep down the dust and... to please the passersby.

Fortunately, all these traditional summer methods are still in use today... And uchimizu is a must see spectacle in one place in particular: Akihabara, Tokyo. Here, on every year at the beginning of August, a special uchimizu takes place in front of the UDX Building, performed by several dozens of the famous Akihabara Maids, all dressed in their outfits...

Cooling off? Maybe physical, but certainly not psychical... the girls are "hot"! (^_^)