Sendai Tanabata Matsuri, a beautiful festival with colorful decorations

  • Miyagi
  • Sightseeing
Sendai Tanabata Festival has been a traditional event since the time of Lord Date Masamune. It is famous for its elegant decorations and gorgeous festivities from ancient Japan. The Tanabata Matsuri was originally held on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, but since the old calendar does not match the new calendar in terms of seasonality, the festival is held from August 6 to 8 in the present calendar, which uses the middle calendar, the calendar with one month added to the new calendar. The festival is characterized by the gorgeous bamboo decorations that are handmade each year, and each shopping district cuts bamboos more than 10 meters long from the mountains and decorates them. During the festival, the city is filled with colorful Tanabata decorations and many tourists visit the shopping streets in and around the center of Sendai City. Why don't you come and enjoy the atmosphere?

History of Sendai Tanabata Festival

It is said that Tanabata was introduced from China during the Nara period (710-794), and in Sendai, Lord Date Masamune promoted the event in the hope that children would improve their calligraphy and sewing skills. Tanabata decorations began to appear in the streets of Sendai and spread among the people.
The Tanabata Festival was originally held on July 7 of the lunar calendar, and on the morning of the 8th, the decorations were floated down the river with the decorations still attached. People prayed for the improvement of their handicrafts, and farmers made Tanabata horses out of straw and put them on their roofs to pray for a good harvest. In Sendai, bamboos with Tanabata bamboos attached were used as drying poles, and the twigs were floated down the Hirose River with Tanabata decorations still attached. These Tanabata festivals were no longer held year by year and declined due to the recession after World War I. In 1927, a group of volunteers decided to blow away the recession! In 1927, a group of volunteers revived the Tanabata festival and the town was filled with people who wanted to see the spectacle, but the war broke out again and the Tanabata decorations disappeared from the town. The year after the war ended (1946), the Tanabata decorations were put up again, and people rejoiced with tears in their eyes. Now it has become a tourist event, attracting many visitors from all over the country.

Sendai Tanabata Festival's seven decorations

Do you know what kind of wishes are put in the seven decorations? They are for prosperity, good health, health and longevity, and many other wishes! Here, we would like to introduce the seven decorations.

Tanzakus (Improvement in studies and calligraphy)
In the old days, people used to write waka poems and wish for improvement in studies and calligraphy by rubbing ink with the dew that collected on the leaves of taro plants early in the morning.

★ Paper Kimono (to ward off illness and misfortune, improve sewing)
Kimonos made of Japanese paper are decorated as a substitute for illness and misfortune while wishing for improvement in sewing. The paper garment is also meant to be a substitute for a child's body to ensure the child's safe upbringing.

Orizuru (family safety and health and longevity)
In the old days, people folded as many origami cranes as the age of the eldest member of the family to wish for a long and healthy life.

Kinchaku (prosperous business)
This cloth is used to nurture the mind of saving and saving while wishing for prosperous business and never running out of money.

Cast nets (good catch, good harvest)
Cast nets are nets used to catch fish. It is used to pray for a bountiful catch and a good harvest in the waters around Sendai so that people will not have trouble finding food. It also means to gather a lot of good luck with a cast net.

★Kuzu Kagome (cleanliness and thrift)
Scraps of cuttings and paper from making the seven decorations are collected and placed in a waste basket. This is a way to nurture a spirit of cleanliness and thrift, and not to use things roughly.

Blowing stream (Orihime's weaving thread)
This symbolizes the hanging weaving threads of the old days, and symbolizes Orihime, a master weaver. It is decorated to wish for the improvement of handicrafts and weaving. There are various theories about the Kusudama, one of the main features of Tanabata decorations. It is said that around 1946, a Sendai merchant noticed beautiful dahlia flowers blooming in his garden and wondered if he could somehow use them for Tanabata decorations, and they became the gorgeous streamers we see today.
It will be fun to find out which decoration is displayed where! Why not visit the Sendai Tanabata Festival with its history of prayers and wishes?
For more information on the Sendai Tanabata Festival, visit
Tags related to this article
Previous post Back to list Next
related articles