Tanabata Festival in Tohoku region

The Tanabata festival opened on Wednesday in the northeastern Japanese city of Sendai.

In the Tanabata Festival also known as the Star Festival, people write their wishes on strips of colored paper and hang them on bamboo branches in the hope their wishes reach the stars.

Shopping arcades across the city are adorned with about 1,400 colorful streamers and paper strips. A total of 78,000 paper cranes made by local children are on display outside a department store, along with messages of hope for recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The festival is scheduled to run through Friday.