Tanabata time!

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I made the trip to Sendai to the Immigration Bureau to get my re-entry permit- a little stamp that alows me to leave and re-enter the country with my visa so I'm not stranded in South Korea next week. Little did I know, my trip coincided with the large Tanabata festival which Sendai in particular, is famous for.

Tanabata means "Seven Evenings" and is a Japanese star festival right before Obon holiday week (next week). It celebrates the meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi. The Milky Way symbolizes a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separated these two lovers, and they were allowed to meet only once a year. One of the rituals of the festival sees Japanese people write wishes or poetry on small pieces of paper that are hung on bamboo poles with other decorations. they are then usually set on fire or floated out to sea after the festival which are meant ot resemble the flostin gof paper ships and candles on the water during Obon. Since I'll be out of the country for Obon, I was glad to catch some of the traditions.

Sendai is actually home to the most famous Tanabata festival, so I guess my timing was perfect this week. The fsetival in Sendai began in the Edo period and has been running ever since, save for the years during WWII. The major shopping arcade, the main streets, and the train station were all decorated with large hanging, paper stremaers and lanterns. There were huge crowds of people and vendors were lined up along the mall in front of stores selling everything for suitcases and bottled water, to squid on a stick and clothing.

There are several symbolic decorstion in Sendai for Tanabata, each with their own meaning:
Paper strips= wishes for good handwriting and study
Paper kimono= Wishes for good sewing. Wards off accidents and bad health.
Paper Crane= Family safety, health, and long life
Purse= good business.
Net= Good fishing and harvests.
Trash Bag= Cleanliness and unwastefulness.
Streamers= The strings that Orihime uses to weave

Stremaers were the most prominent since they hung in the middle of the mall walkways, hanging down to waist height. That also meant there was a lot of pushing streamers aside just to walk. Sendai is usually crowded but it was so packed, especially with people stopping to take pictures and look at the decorations. lots of people were dressed in yukatas fo rthe celebrations.

The ornamental ball (Kusudama) is above the streamers was originally conceived in 1946 by the owner of a shop in downtown Sendai. The ball was originally modelled after the Dahlia flower. Some of the streamers are sponsored by local sports teams and by shops, so in between traditional looking decorations, you see ones with "Rakuten Eagles" or "Eddie Bauer" or the name of the nearest pachinko parlour on them. Its just another example of the sometimes odd mix of tradition and Westernization here in Japan.

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Photos

Decorations
Outside of the train station

Sendai streets
An area of Sendai near the Immigration Bureau, away from the main festivities

Inside
The view from inside a streamer...

Fukushima
Even Fukushima got in on the action. The main pedestrian street was lined with much simpler and smaller tanabata decorations...and vendors selling cotton candy.