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Wednesday, 27th April 2011
In Events In Japan,

Tanabata star festival to go ahead in August

The earthquake ravaged city of Sendai has confirmed that it will be hosting its annual Tanabata star festival from August 6th to 8th, despite the natural disasters which struck the region last month.

For this reason, the theme for this year's event will be recovery and requiescat, with millions of Japanese expected to attend, the Associated Press reported.

Last year's Tanabata star festival brought 2.35 million people to the north eastern city, with colourful streamers and bamboo branches decorating the city's shopping arcades.

The Sendai Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that this year residents will be encouraged to decorate their homes as well.

A lack of sponsorship money is expected to dent the festival's budget by around a quarter, however, and many night-time events will not go ahead in order to conserve energy.

Hiroshi Kamata, chairman of Sendai-based 77 Bank which heads up the event's organisation, said: "Tanabata is an event to make wishes to stars. We hope to cheer up people in the Tohoku region by organizing the festival."

Written by Kimberley Homer