Asagaya Tanabata Festival Features Gigantic Paper Mache of Popular Anime Characters

From Aug. 7-11, the 60th “Asagaya Tanabata Festival” was held in Asagaya, Suginami, Tokyo. The shopping district Asagaya Pearl Center was completely decorated with Tanabata 1 decorations and numerous gigantic, colorful paper mache creations.

Pearl Center was bustling with a crowd of visitors attracted by the decorations and the laughter of children. The highlight of the festival was the gigantic paper mache creations themed after popular anime and film characters. Many visitors happily walked through the arcade of Pearl Center where many of the creations hung from the ceiling. This year’s creations included the Thousand Sunny from One Piece and the popular characters Nishizumi Miho from Girls und Panzer, Kumamon, and Funassyi.

However, the fun of Pearl Center isn’t over yet! Jazz-related goods for purchase and a Halloween-related cosplay event are planned for the latter half of October.

^1^ Tanabata is a Japanese star festival that occurs once a year when the stars Vega and Altair cross within the Milky Way. The stars represent the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi. Festivities are often held during this time, including writing down wishes on paper strips called tanzaku.

This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.