Sendai Tanabata Festival

Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, is a major seasonal Japanese festival that begins on July 7 and lasts until mid-August (depending on the area and region). People will write their wishes on strips of rectangular "tanzaku" paper and hang them on bamboo leaves while praying to the stars during this time. Colorful streamers and bamboo leaves will be used to decorate streets, shopping arcades, residences, and stores, creating a lively, magical ambiance. They are only allowed to meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, according to the lunisolar calendar, which marks the start of Tanabata.

The Sendai Tanabata festival was founded by Sendai's famed samurai founder Date Masamune and is still one of Japan's most spectacular festivals today. Sendai and its environs are wrapped in a tapestry of beautiful handmade Tanabata decorations, including bamboo, origami, tanzaku paper, drawstring bags, and streamers, during this time. Many are big and showy, with thick meter-long streamers strung from huge bamboo stalks being the most eye-catching. This is why it becomes one of the most famous festivals in Japan.

Location: Sendai, Japan

Date: August 6th - August 8th