The Sendai Tanabata Festival began in Sendai on Tuesday, with ornaments hung with prayers for the areas affected by the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture.
The festival, known as one of the three largest in the Tohoku region, runs through Thursday. Tanzaku paper decorations, with messages written on them wishing for the return of daily life in the quake-hit Noto area, are on display.
In addition to tanzaku decorations and orizuru paper cranes, the festival also features fukinagashi streamers. Each fukinagashi set consists of five streamers. This year, there are about 260 sets of large fukinagashi, over 3 meters long, according to the Sendai Tanabata Festival Support Association.
The association decided to create fukinagashi for reconstruction in the Noto area and solicited donations through a crowdfunding project from May to July.
In July, it held a meeting to make the fukinagashi and invited donors. Tanzaku decorations with uplifting messages, such as "It's okay to smile and cry," were attached to the bottom of the fukinagashi.
"We were helped by people from all over Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake (in March 2011), so I hope to give (the support) back even a little," said Kumiko Terao, 62, who joined the meeting. "I think many people (in the Noto region) had to leave their hometowns, but I want their hearts to stay strong."
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