OSAKA - Eighty women carried two portable shrines weighing about 200 kilograms each through Osaka’s Tenjinbashisuji shopping arcade, filling the streets with spirited chants ahead of the Tenjin Festival’s opening ceremonies. The annual Gyaru Mikoshi parade is a popular feature of the Tenjin Festival, one of Japan’s three major festivals. "It feels fresh and exciting for all of us women to gather and do something fun together," one participant said. "I can really feel the Osaka summer." The Tenjin Festival will hold its eve celebrations on July 24, followed by the main festival on July 25, when a fireworks display will illuminate Osaka’s summer night sky.