7 days ago
Sendai Tanabata festival opens in northeastern Japan
The Tanabata festival opened on Wednesday in the northeastern Japanese city of Sendai.
One of the most popular summer events in the Tohoku region, the festival is said to date back more than 400 years.
Shopping arcades across the city are adorned with about 1,400 colorful streamers and paper strips.
A total of 78,000 paper cranes made by local children are on display outside a department store, along with messages of hope for recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
A decoration created by exchange students at Tohoku University by recycling last year's Tanabata ornaments features the flags of the 99 countries and regions the students hail from.
Shoppers and tourists were seen enjoying the spectacle and taking photos of the decorations.
A woman in her 50s from Morioka City said it was the first time she has seen the actual decorations and that she was surprised by their complexity and beauty.
A local woman in her 30s said there is such a huge variety of decorations that she will take pictures until her camera is full.
The festival runs through Friday.
