<p>Hanging kushidama streamers mark the beginning of the impressive Tanabata displays</p>

Hanging kushidama streamers mark the beginning of the impressive Tanabata displays (Photo: Mandy Bartok)

Sendai's Tanabata Festival 2014

A visual tour of Sendai's Star Festival

Mandy Bartok Aug 07, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>Hanging kushidama streamers mark the beginning of the impressive Tanabata displays</p>

<p>Each group of streamers are decorated by various city shops, schools or civic organizations</p>

<p>Some of the streamers can get quite detailed in their design</p>

<p>Cranes, symbolizing longevity are a popular motif</p>

<p>The streamers hang from ten meter long bamboo poles in the city's covered shopping arcades</p>

<p>Paper kimono wards off bad luck</p>

<p>The arcades feel like a forest of streamers</p>

<p>Sendai's famous lord, one-eyed samurai Date Masamune, makes an appearance on a festival streamer</p>

<p>The colorful central display</p>

<p>The streamers are made of tissue paper and washi (a type of Japanese paper)</p>

Sendai's Tanabata Festival, one of Tohoku's three famous summer festivals, runs from August 6th-8th. The main attractions are the covered shopping arcades that are decorated with hundreds and hundreds of paper kushidama that hang from bamboo poles and cascade toward the ground in a swirling mess of color. Everything from anime characters to paper cranes to carefully crafted washi paper flowers decorate the streamers, which run for nearly 2 kilometers through the center of the city. The route begins just minutes from JR Sendai Station, though you'll find numerous other decorations scattered throughout the city itself.

Mandy Bartok

Mandy Bartok @mandy.bartok

Japan resident for 10 years, with time spent in Okinawa, Kumamoto and Tokyo.