🎎 Sendai Tanabata Festival

The shopping streets in the center and surrounding areas of Sendai are adorned with colorful decorations for the "Sendai Tanabata Festival," creating a vibrant spectacle. Locally, it is affectionately known as "Tanabata-san," and the event takes place annually from August 6 to 8 (around the 7th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar), lasting for three days. This traditional event, which has been held for over 400 years, now attracts about 2 million domestic and international visitors each year. The highlight of the Sendai Tanabata Festival is the luxurious and splendid decorations displayed mainly along the arcade streets around Sendai Station. Giant bamboo poles, over 10 meters tall, are decorated with "seven types of ornaments" made from handmade washi paper each year. The delicate washi decorations flutter in the wind, providing a refreshing coolness during the hot summer. The "seven types of ornaments" represent various wishes: strips of paper for praying for academic and calligraphy progress, paper clothes for wishing for health and sewing improvements, thousand origami cranes for family safety and longevity, towels for prosperous business, fishing nets for abundant catches and rice harvests, dustbins for cleanliness and frugality, and streamers representing the weaving of the weaver girl (織女). Each ornament has its own representative wish, making it fun to find the decoration that corresponds to one's own desires. To fully appreciate the luxurious Tanabata decorations, visitors are encouraged to explore not only the central areas like Chuo-dori and Ichibancho-dori in front of Sendai Station but also the shopping streets in the surrounding areas, where traditional and elegant Tanabata decorations can also be seen.

Locally known as "Tanabata," this traditional event, beloved by the locals, has a history of over 400 years. From August 6 to 8, the streets of Sendai are adorned with splendid Tanabata decorations. Over 10-meter tall bamboo poles are decorated with Tanabata ornaments made of washi paper, filling the streets with a vibrant festival atmosphere. Among the small items known as the "Seven Decorations," there are various meanings behind the different wishes. In addition to the luxurious Tanabata decorations in the city center, the traditional Tanabata decorations in the surrounding areas are also well worth a visit.