Aug 7, 2014 - 1 min read

Sendai's Tanabata Festival 2014

A visual tour of Sendai's Star Festival

By Mandy Bartok

Community writer

Hanging kushidama streamers mark the beginning of the impressive Tanabata displays

Each group of streamers are decorated by various city shops, schools or civic organizations

Some of the streamers can get quite detailed in their design

Cranes, symbolizing longevity are a popular motif

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

The arcades feel like a forest of streamers

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

The streamers are made of tissue paper and washi (a type of Japanese paper)

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.

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By Mandy Bartok

Community writer

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Justin Velgus 11 years ago

As a Sendai local I wanted to remind readers of two points. First, Tanabata happens throughout Japan around July 7th, but, as you noted, August 6th to 8th in Sendai. Second, Sendai's Tanabata is the most famous but won't find many concerts, parades, or the traditional festival atmosphere. For that you should come see the Aoba Festival. The Tanabata Festival mostly consists of these very beautiful decorations found in the liveliest part of the shopping arcades.