Despite Tokyo's record-breaking summer heat, half a million spectators packed downtown Asakusa on Aug. 28 to watch the 30th Asakusa Samba Carnival, with many having arrived in the morning to be sure of getting a good view.
At one of the prime spots along the carnival's 800-meter parade route — around the crossing of Kaminarimon and Umamichi streets — Mariko Inuzuka, a 60-year-old housewife from Yokohama, said that since she started to do ballroom dancing some years ago, she has also been drawn to Latin American music and dance, including samba.
"I came here because I wanted to feel the genuine samba rhythm," she said.