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Today I happened to see the Omikoshi Festival of Suwa Shrine in Sengokuhara, Hakone and a campfire by pupils of kindergarten also at Sengokuhara.
There were two sets of Omikoshi (portable shrine) at the festival, one for adults and another one for children. The two of them started from the Suwa Shrine in the morning and marched around the village a whole day. As number of youth in the village is decreasing, it is becoming harder every year to mobilize the enough people for carrying Omikoshi and to preserve the traditional festival. The photos below were taken at about three o'clock in the afternoon. But those who carried Omikoshi were still in high-spirit. Especially children were marching with gallant "Wasshoi, Wasshoi!" (yo-ho).
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In the evening, I saw pupils from a kindergarten in urban area were enjoying a campfire at a ground in Sengokuhara. They did small fireworks themselves, singing and dancing under the experienced leaders until it became dark.
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Thus the summer has come in Hakone.