Kenta Imamura, a Seattle Mariners’  Ichiro Suzuki impersonator is seen during the game betwenn the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington, USA, August 2, 2011. (Photo by AFLO)

File Photo : Naoki Matsuda – One of Japan’s top players Naoki Matsuda died on August 4th, 2011. He was sent to the hospital due to the acute myocardial infarction while his training on August, 2nd in Nagano, Japan. He played for Japan’s National team 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney as well as the [...]

July 31, 2011 – Yokohama, Japan – A photo released on August 3 shows Slava Petin performing acrobatic maneuvers during the Red Bull Art of Motion event. This free running competition was first established to the world in 2007 as it made its first debut in London in March 2011. (Photo by Christopher Jue/AFLO)

July 31st, 2011- Tokyo, Japan- Maid cos-players sprinkling water: This summer, Japan is concerned for saving electricity due to the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. Maids cosplayers are doing water sprinkling to make the temperature cooler in Akihabara, Japan. (Photo by Yumeto Yamazaki/AFLO)

Heads of Japan’s three leading communication companies proudly shows off Toshiba-Fujitsu IS12T handsets, the worlds first Windows Phone 7.5, launched jointly by KDDI, Fujitsu and Japan Microsoft in Tokyo on Wednesday, July 27, 2011. (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO)

Against the backdrop of Tokyo Sky Tree, a trio of mascot characters poses with the countdown clock installed on the roof of a downtown Tokyo railroad station on Wednesday, July 27, 2011. It is just 300 days before the newest Tokyo landmark, the 634-meter-tall self-standing telecommunication tower with two observatories and commercial facilities, begins operating [...]

Kosuke Kitajima (JPN) competes during the 14th FINA World Championships Shanghai 2011, Men’s 100m Breaststroke Heat at Oriental Sports Center Indoor Stadium, Shanghai, China on July 24, 2011 (Photo by Daiju Kitamura/AFLO SPORT)

July 21st, 2011, Susonosi, Japan – Various types of dummies for experiments stand by in their waiting room at Toyotas Higashi-Fuji Technical Center on the foot of Mt. Fuji, some 92km (about 57 miles) southwest of Tokyo, on Thursday, July 21, 2011. Toyota showed to reporters technologies aimed at increasing safety for pedestrians and elderly [...]

A young Japanese woman holds a fashionable parasol in downtown Tokyo. Japanese people, especially middle-aged women, use parasols during the hot Summer months to avoid any form of skin cancer. Today, parasols are also becoming popular among young adult women due to various designs and colors available on the market. (Photo by Yumeto Yamazaki/AFLO)

Hanagasa Matsuri’s dancers from Yamagata prefecture perform at the Tohoku Rokkon Festival, July 16, 2011, in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture, northeastern Japan, about 90km away from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The six major festivals in the Tohoku region, comprising Sansa Odori in Iwate, Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori, Tanabata Matsuri in Sendai, Hanagasa [...]

JULY 16th, 2011 : Japan Sports Association and Japanese Olympic Committee 100th Anniversary Commemorative Celebration in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by YUTAKA/AFLO SPORT)

Toddlers play in the water fountain as the mid-day temperature shoots over 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Toyosu, Tokyo’s newly-developed waterfront area, on Sunday, July 17, 2011. Heatstroke cases in Japan have shot up in the early summer as many air-conditioners have been switched off amid an energy saving national drive following the [...]