It was the first day of Asagaya Tanabata Festival so I made sure to include that place for my walk last night. I took the subway to Minami Asagaya train station and walked all the way to JR Asagaya train station. It was a night full of huge decorations, happy kiddos and lovely couples in their summer yukata.
Asagaya Tanabata Festival (阿佐谷七夕まつり) takes place for 5 days at the shopping district in the humble town of Asagaya located in Suginami-ku, Tokyo. Asagaya is an 8-minute train ride from Shinjuku, but this town is so different from the bustling Shinjuku. In here, it's just a quiet, local neighborhood. But not during a festival!
The festival started from 1954, in the same shopping district. It was created with the idea of letting the people still enjoy the shopping district even with the harsh and intense summer. Some places in Japan usually celebrate Tanabata on July, but places like Asagaya, they celebrate it every year on August. This year marks the 69th Asagaya Tanabata festival.
Usually when you think of Tanabata, you'll think of wishes written on paper and hang on bamboo trees to pray.
But in Asagaya's festival, they just made it grand with large paper lantern decorations hanging from the ceiling of this covered shopping district. I so love how they made it floating in the air that wherever I look, I could see it from above.
And some I could even reach by my hand!
The ornaments aren't just created by the local merchants, there are also ones that were created by elementary students! It was so fun to know they even have made their class mascot a decoration to hang here and share with everyone.
There were also so many characters that I'm sure almost everyone knows!
I was surprised to see Myaku Myaku here. He should be in the expo in Osaka! 😂
Our red bean superhero is here! Let's go, Anpanman!
Didn't know caterpillars can not float in the air! It's so cute though!
And a smiling panda holding a bamboo with the wishes! How cute! There's even a sleeping koala beside it. Zzz
Hello Pikachu! Actually, that night I saw another Pikachu but it's a smaller version of this.
Anime characters are also here to grace us with their presence. Can you identify them all?
A big head Detective Conan running or a small cutesy face Detective Conan with Mouri Kogoro watching behind him? 😅
Yay, kusuriya is here! Maomao from the Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya No Hitorigoto 薬屋のひとりごと) is guiding the way.
And this cute bunny from an anime on 2023. Can you guess what anime it is? And the name of this character?
There were also mini trains here. Are they from the JR East group? 😅
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There were a few more characters including Godzilla. But no worries, no harm was done.
Even a replica of the famous waves by Hokusai is here.
And of course, a matsuri (or a festival) in Japan will never be complete without the aroma of good food. Many stores have made a popup shop by the shopping street selling whatever festival food they could offer - and also beer!
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There was so many food of all kinds - yakisoba, takoyaki, yakitori, sausages, kebabs, dangos, popcorns, sandwiches and so much more. It was so hot so a kakigori (shaved ice) would have been perfect. I heard a passerby said 美味いけどお金がない (which translates to delicious but I have no money) and I could just agree with him. I also don't have money to buy these tasty looking food.
Catching balls (Super ball sukui スーパーボールすくい) or goldfishes using a small thin paper scoop (Kingyo sukui 金魚すくい) are one of the games you can find here in the festival. There is also water balloon yoyo (yoyo tsuri ヨーヨー釣り) that you need to get by hooking. These water games are very popular among kids.
But I was surprised some adults were also playing! I guess they are also children at heart. 😍
Non water based games like shooting and lotteries are also being enjoyed by a lot of people. I even saw a booth of balloon making - those that you can shape into different kinds like animals and more.
After walking some more, I didn't realize I've reached the far end of the shopping district. It's almost a 1 km walk to reach both ends. Imagine, I've been exercising that long? 😂
Crossing the street from the shopping district took me to JR Asagaya station. In here, there's a lantern shining brightly on the dark night. The station is also decorated with the same paper mache ornaments found in the shopping district.
Asagaya Tanabata Festival is actually one of the great Tanabata festivals of Japan, as they say. I never expected to attend something big of a festival this year, and it's near home! I'm so happy to be able to witness a Tanabata festival, maybe my first time. The festival is happening now til August 11 so there's still time to go.
Thanks for reading! See you around! じゃあ、またね！
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.