Through the Lens: Japan's upper house election; summer festivals in Kyoto and Fukuoka
Sohei Kamiya, the leader of Japan's Sanseito party, speaks to supporters at an event on the last day of campaigning for the upper house election, at Shiba Park in Tokyo, on July 19. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)
Sanseito supporters raise their fists during an event on the last day of campaigning for Japan's July 20 upper house election, at Shiba Park in Tokyo, on July 19. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)
Voters walk past a candidate bulletin board at a polling station in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
A voter casts his ballot in Japan's upper house election at a polling station in Tokyo
on July 20. (Photo by Koji Uema)
People vote in Japan's upper house election at a polling station in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo by Koji Uema)
Election officials open ballot boxes at a counting center in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo by Manami Yamada/Reuters)
Election officials count votes in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo by Manami Yamada/Reuters)
An election official carries a ballot box during Japan's upper house election, at a counting center in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo by Manami Yamada/Reuters)
Members of the media gather at Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita)
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya, right, and upper house candidate Saya place a victory flower next to her name in Tokyo, after she won her upper house race on July 20. (Photo by Rie Ishii)
Leader of the Democratic Party For the People (DPFP) Yuichiro Tamaki, left, and the party's secretary-general, Shimba Kazuya, stand in front of a board with the names of DPFP candidates in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, listens to a question from a journalist at LDP headquarters in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo Mayumi Tsumita)
Shigeru Ishiba, Japan's prime minister, takes part in an interview at LDP headquarters in Tokyo on July 20. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita)
Rosettes to indicate election victories go unused at LDP headquarters in Tokyo on July 21. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita)
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference at Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on July 21, the day after the ruling coalition lost its majority in Japan's upper house. (Photo by Sae Kamae)
Two of Japan's most colorful summer festivals were held recently, the Gion Festival in Kyoto and the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival in Fukuoka.
On July 17, the Yamahoko procession, the highlight of the Gion Festival in Kyoto, was held. About 20 ornately decorated "Yamahoko," or "moving museums," made their way through the center of the city.
In Fukuoka, the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival was also a lavish affair, with the event culminating in the "Oishi Yamakasa" race in which men carry seven floats weighing about 1 metric ton each, representing each neighborhood in Fukuoka's Hakata district, along a 5-kilometer course.
Children visit Yasaka Shrine to pray for a safe Gion Festival, in Kyoto on July 1. (Photo by Kyodo)
People fill the streets as floats with illuminated lanterns are displayed during the annual Gion Festival's Yoiyama event in Kyoto on July 16. (Photo by Kyodo)
A "Yamahoko" float is pulled around a corner during the Gion Festival in Kyoto on July 17. The parade is designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. (Photo by Arisa Moriyama)
People carry a float at Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka during the annual Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival on July 15, marking the finale of the 15-day event that dates back more than 780 years. (Photo by Kyodo)
People carry - while others ride on - a float at Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka during the annual Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival on July 15. (Photo by Kyodo)
(Photo by Kyodo)
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