Uchimizu
Uchimizu [打ち水[うちみず]] refers to the action of sprinkling water on the streets in the summer and has been a tradition in Japan for many many moons. The water keeps the dust low and cools off the immediate area.
The Uchimizukko Daishugo event has made this tradition more interesting by getting legions of maids to do the watering. The pink maid in this pic wearing glasses was my fave out of the lot ^o^
12.30 infront of Akiba station. Organizers are prepping for the event.
Purified water used to cool off the streets.
Maids getting ready for action.
More maids.
Another maid in armor.
These are called Oke [桶[おけ]] - water pails which will be filled with water.
Suspicious character on the right.
More maids get ready for the event.
Maid invasion!
All these maids are from different cafes. Never been to a maid cafe before so couldn't tell you who's who. Below is a list of some of the cafes who participated in the event (in Japanese).
アキバ一丁目劇場、＠ほぉ〜むcafe、お〜ぶ、Cafe Cute M、キューティーリラックス、QUEEN DOLCE、Cos-Cha、JAMアキハバラ、SweetTrip、ハニーシープ、ぴなふぉあ、MistyHeaven、メイキュア、メイドステーション、メイフット、Merry Heart、モエシャン、癒あmaiden、ユナティコストレーガ、LittleBSD、LittlePSX、ロイヤルミルク
Gah, its the pink maid (in the middle). I didnt notice how cute she was until I looked at the photos. I could hardly see through the helmet (I only see green ^^;)
Brownie points to whoever can name all the maid costume/cafes.
This event has to be the biggest maid only event. The girls are waiting on the bridge to head down an escalator.
And at the bottom of the escalator are a load of salivating men pointing their...camera.
The maids reach the bottom of the escalator and pose for the lads.
This is Rio Hatsune who was this years image girl for the event.
Traditional style maids.
Cute!
All the girls have assembled at the event ground and grab a pail full of water.
The water throwing/sprinking takes place a few times throughout the event. Its the pink maid!
T'was very windy and the girls had a tough time keeping their skirts down. There were many gusts of wind where upon the girls would squeek "kyaaa!".
The lads around me all went "ahhhhh, kawaiii!!"
Folks from the audience who wanted to participate could do so too. But its boring watching them throw water...
...which is why I kept my eye on this lot instead.
Was packed so didnt get to move around and only got pics form this spot.
A shot of the lads.
People who attended the event may have noticed that the organizers set up equipment to measure the temperature, wind and height of water being thrown. After water has been thrown and if there was a breeze (which there was), then the temperature would have temporarily cooled down.
I think the heat being generated by the excited men alone prevented any type of temperature cooling though.
Image girl Rio.
Video below that I took of the event - first few seconds is blank for some reason.
