One of the Big Three Summer Festivals in the Tohoku region, the Sendai Tanabata Matsuri is Japan's largest, grandest, and most famous Tanabata Festival. Held annually during Aug. 6-8 in Sendai's major shopping arcades festooned with huge and colorful streamers. This is the grand daddy of all Tanabata Festivals in Japan and easily ranked as one of Japan's Top Ten Festivals. I revisited this festival in Aug. 2009 and selected over 250 shots displayed here. Included are shots of the streamers being set up on the first day, Tanabata fireworks, and the evening entertainment. Also see my YouTube video here.

252 files, last one added on Jun 06, 2010
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Also called Aobajo or Aoba Castle, Sendai Castle was the home and administrative center of the Date clan starting with warlord Date Masamune who built the castle in 1601. Due to wartime bombing, no original buildings remain. Only the Waki-yagura turret was reconstructed in 1965. The castle site is on Aobayama, a hill overlooking downtown Sendai. A large statue of Masamune, various monuments, and a shrine now occupy the Honmaru site.

72 files, last one added on Sep 08, 2009
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One stop from JR Sendai Station, Tsutsujigaoka Park has many weeping cherry trees as well as the popular Somei Yoshino sakura which bloom earlier than the weeping ones.

24 files, last one added on Jan 22, 2013
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