Children and Water

Minakuchi, Minakuchi Town, Shiga
(Japan)

Children playing in the stream of Yasu Gawa (River) near Naiki Bashi (Bridge). All the boys have close-cropped heads and are wearing Fundoshi (loinclothes). In the areas away from the lake, the rivers and canals were the places for children to play in. Today it is rare to find children swimming there, but the day we went to take this photo, we encountered a family that was coming back to their natal home for holidays and was playing in the river. When children play with the water their expressions are always the same... they always look very happy. (A. Kobayashi)