[Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture] Introducing the latest information and history of the 2022 Sendai Tanabata Festival! Explanation of the highlights of the day

A famous event in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture,Sendai Tanabata Festival”. Even if you know about the event, there may be people who have never been to it.

Therefore, this time we will introduce the latest information on the 2022 Sendai Tanabata Festival and the history of how the Tanabata Festival became famous in Sendai. We also explain the must-see points of the day, so please refer to it if you are considering participating in the festival.

What is the Sendai Tanabata Festival?

Sendai Tanabata Festival400 years of historyIt is a traditional festival in Sendai that is proud of its popularity and is visited by more than 2 million people every year.

During the three-day festival, the glittering Tanabata decorations that greet tourists around the area in front of Sendai Station are the main attraction.

The eve festival, where more than 10,000 fireworks are set off, is also a big event for locals.

Basic information and access for Sendai Tanabata 2022

<Schedule>

  • Eve: August 5th (Friday) 19:15-20:15
  • Festival day: August 6th (Sat) - August 8th (Mon) 10:00 - 22:00

<Access>

  • Train: Nearest station ⇒ JR Sendai Station, Subway Sendai Station, etc.
  • Car: Approximately 15 minutes from Miyagi IC on the Tohoku Expressway
  • Airport: 25 minutes by Sendai Airport Access Railway to JR Sendai Station (17 minutes by rapid train)

Sendai Tanabata’s charms and highlights

The eve, where 16,000 fireworks are launched, is as popular as the day of the Sendai Tanabata Festival. This year, although there are restrictions to prevent infectious diseases such as the cancellation of stalls, it will be held with an audience for the first time in three years.

Additionally, this year there will be free and paid viewing seats, and there will be a limit on the number of people in the free seats, so if you want to go see the fireworks, it's best to decide where you want to go in advance.

Please see the Sendai Tanabata Fireworks Festival official website for detailed seating locations, opening times, and number of people restrictions

Sendai Tanabata Festival key points on the day

We have put together some points to help you enjoy the Tanabata Festival even more.

Beautiful "bamboo decoration"

What should be noted above all isGorgeous bamboo decoration. Bamboo is cut from the mountain in the early morning of August 4th, and the decorated bamboo leaves are erected in the arcade extending from Sendai Station in the early morning of the 6th.

The decorations that each store and business operator creates are unique. The shopping street that stretches approximately 1.7km from the station is bustling with people. Just walking to the end of the shopping arcade is fun enough, but knowing the difference in the decorations on Chuo-dori and Ichibancho-dori will double the fun.

Chuo-dori Street is lined with long bamboo decorations that are very impressive. On the other hand, Ichibancho-dori Street is decorated with a single bamboo stick hanging from a manhole, and the slanted bamboo gives it a quaint feel.

Another point is that you can see bamboo decorations in each shopping street other than the arcade. Especially recommended for sightseeing is the Sendai Asaichi Shopping Street. The market, where fresh ingredients such as fresh fish, vegetables, and meat are sold, will also be decorated for three days only.

The collaboration of the lively Sendai Morning Market and the beautiful Tanabata decorations is a rare event that can only be seen for three days a year.

"Seven decorations" filled with wishes

Another point to check is “Seven decorations”. At Sendai Tanabata, Strips of paper, paper clothes, origami cranes, purses, cast nets, waste baskets, windsocks” 7 types will be displayed.

For example, there is now a custom of hanging strips of paper with wishes written on them, but originally they were used as decorations for writing waka poems and praying for improvement in academics and calligraphy. There are also seven types of decorations that have meanings, such as family safety, business prosperity, and warding off epidemics, and are shaped according to their meanings.

The official Sendai Tanabata Festival website also lists the seven meanings and how to make them, so we recommend making them with your kids.

History of Sendai Tanabata

This is an introduction to the original Tanabata Festival and the history of Sendai Tanabata. held in August , a month apart It's packed with answers to simple questions like!

Origin of Tanabata

Tanabata originally began in ancient China. Around the Nara period, it was introduced to Japan and started to be held as a court event, and later spread to the samurai and private sectors, and became established as the basic form of Tanabata decorations, consisting of strips of paper, colored paper, and streamers on bamboo and bamboo.

Origin of Sendai Tanabata Festival

The Tanabata Festival spread to Sendai becauseDate Masamune, founder of the Sendai domainIt is said to have its origins in the Edo period, when it was encouraged by children to improve their culture.

Also, although the current Sendai Tanabata Festival is a tourist event, it was originally an event to welcome the gods of the rice fields. Sendai has long been plagued by periodic cold weather damage, particularly in 1987, which caused 250,000 deaths, and in 1977, 300,000 people died.

Because food shortages were a major issue that could lead directly to death, Tanabata was said to include prayers for a good harvest and protection.

History of the decline and revival of the Sendai Tanabata Festival

Sendai Tanabata was filled with people's prayers, but it declined during the Meiji Restoration and World War I.

Sendai merchants in 1927 tried to break this trend. In an effort to ward off the economic downturn, the colorful Tanabata decorations have been revived. And the following year, 1938, The event, which was originally held on July 7th in the lunar calendar, was changed to a three-day event from August 6th to 8th, which is a month later than the new calendar date.A ``Decoration Contest'' was also held to liven up Sendai.

However, with the onset of World War II, Sendai Tanabata once again went down the road. Sendai also suffered severe damage from air raids, but after the end of the war in 1946, 52 bamboo decorations were erected on the ruins of Ichibancho Street. Since then, Sendai Tanabata has changed from a shopping district promotion event to a tourism event, and has been passed down to this day.

Enjoy the historic Sendai Tanabata Festival!

This time, we introduced the 2022 overview, highlights, and history of the Sendai Tanabata Festival. The Sendai Tanabata Festival, which is filled with people's wishes, has continued for over 400 years and still entertains the hearts of those who see it.

If you look at it after knowing the history and meaning of the decorations, you may discover something different. Please come to the 2022 Sendai Tanabata Festival and find your own charm.

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