Why is she throwing water on the ground?
This is called Uchimizu.

People do this to cool the street and as an effect - cools the surrounding area and reduces the amount of dust that flies around.

In recent times there has been a push for people to use recycled water instead to reduce waste.

The ladle and bucket are traditional, and can be replaced by hoses, buckets or any handy implement. Ladles and buckets are used exclusively at Uchimizu festivals though.

Uchimizu.jp provides a handy how-to guide for the activity:








Further reading :)