Asagaya Tanabata Matsuri (2013)

Asagaya has been holding its distinctive Tanabata festival for 60 years now, but the event has moved with the times: in recent years, the papier-mâché decorations dangling from the ceiling of the Pearl Center shopping arcade have included Buzz Lightyear and the famous ‘fail whale’ from Twitter. The decorations are there to see all day long, but many people wait until dusk to go and enjoy them, accompanied by food and libations sold at stalls along the length of the street.