Wearing red boots and pointy black hats, Japanese revelers paraded down a Tokyo street Sunday as a brass band played "Happy Birthday" in honor of a fictitious robot boy.
The parade was part of the nationwide festivities honoring Astro Boy, a childlike robot created on April 7, 2003, according to the original 1950s comic book by Osamu Tezuka.
The event, in Takadanobaba, Shinjuku Ward, was held on the eve of the robot's birthday to allow for a weekend celebration. It attracted 270 participants who dressed up as Astro Boy and other characters from the comic book.