The Sendai
Tanabata Star Festival
It took a bit more than an hour.
With these seven decorations, my Tanabata Festival experience was complete, so I chatted with Ms. Yamamura about her 40 years of artistry.
She showed me pictures of her handmade decorations that had gained global attention outside of Sendai.
It was really interesting to hear about how she had gone back and forth to Los Angeles for several months in 2009 and how her Tanabata decorations had delighted people from the U.S. and swayed in the breeze where groups of Japanese expats lived.
In her words, "The older Tanabata Festivals were calm. We don't know how great it was back then when the only sound was the rustling of the washi paper in the wind."
She told me this as I said my goodbyes and wrapped up my ornaments so that I could put them up at home.
True...
I wonder how tranquil and beautiful the sound was of the old-fashioned washi paper lilting in the breeze.
I said goodbye again and stepped out into the arcade to gaze some more at the Tanabata decorations.
They took on a different appearance after hearing Ms. Yamamura's stories.
I thought that just looking at the decorations was not enough—I also wanted to hear them move in the wind.
A soft gust came into the arcade and...
The ornaments swayed.
The breeze came over them little by little and as they moved,
I could hear the sound.
It was the soft sound of washi paper.
And there was the sound of the air as well.
It made me want to sit quietly and just listen for a moment to the paper fluttering with the wind.
I had the feeling that I would remember Ms. Yamamura's stories for quite some time.
But there was more walking to do in the arcade, so I kept going and tried to feel the washi paper moving in the wind.
After a little while, I noticed some writing in Korean. The seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar marks the start of Sendai's Tanabata Festival in August, and is also the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
72 years have passed since that event.
Apparently, one million folded paper cranes are sent to Sendai from across Japan on this occasion every year.
Sendai's Tanabata Festival encompasses a whole range of emotions.
Among the beautiful decorations, I noticed smiles on the faces of people enjoying the festival.
As I passed through the seemingly endless arcade, I came to yet another arcade.
This is one of the charms of Sendai.
Even if a typhoon brings rain showers, it is still just right for enjoying the washi paper of the Tanabata decorations.
