Odds and ends again

I am not sure what was going on here, but it is likely that they were working on the power lines. The next time I came by this spot whatever they were doing was finished and there was no sign of anything having been done.

 This is in downtown Sendai. The sign says something like "In loud voices shout out that we are not alone." This is in reference to all the problems that resulted from the earthquake and tsunami.

 This is the entrance to the building where I take art lessons. The decorations are for a summer festival.

 Walking back to the subway after class was over, I spotted, actually I heard, this group. They are in the walkway between the divided sections of Josenji Dori, josenji being the name of a temple that used to be here.

Sendai has many parks and the large streets and many of the small ones, too, are lined with trees. However, much of the city looks like this - large expanses of pavement. In the past people used to sprinkle water on the sidewalks to lower the temperature but that custom has pretty much disappeared. This year because of the energy problems more places are going this again, but not enough in my opinion. The change in temperature between wet and dry sidewalks is very noticeably and very welcome on a hot day.